Growing Up: School Yard Years
by Splitpersonality4ever
Summary: School. That magical place where you learn and make friends. It helps us grow, both mentally and socially. The downside? Children aren't always nice. And they tend to get meaner with age. But we all have to go at some point. Even hybrids. It's an important life experience, even if it's not the most pleasant one. Sequel to In the Beginning, second in the Growing Up series.
1. Prologue

**Author's Note: I am back! Hey everyone! How you doing? Excited? I hope so. :) Here is the second story in the Growing Up series. I hope you love it. Now, I may not be able to update often, school is starting soon. But I will try my best. **

**If you haven't read my first story, then what are you waiting for? Find it on my profile, or search it's name. It's called Growing Up: In the Beginning.**

**Don't forget to check out the character profiles, if you haven't already. They're on my profile. **

**Anyway, enjoy the story. Review please!**

**Prologue  
Birthday Girl  
(Isa)Bella's POV**

**Date: September 13th, 1966 (Bella's designated Birthday) Physical Age: 8**

Didn't you love birthdays when you were little? I did. There was presents and cake and presents and singing and presents and games- and did I mention presents? I loved presents. Unfortunately, almost no one celebrated birthdays in my family. Mom, Dad, and my older siblings didn't exactly remember when their birthdays were, so they didn't celebrate.

Adriana, Melissa, and I had no idea when our birthdays were. I wasn't even sure how old I really was. Anyway, Adriana hated that we missed out on gifts every year. That really sucked. So, she decided she was going to have a birthday. She picked a date(April 17) and make it her birthday. Surprisingly, it worked. Probably because Adriana was a bit of a prima donna. Just sometimes... when around other people.

Well, because it worked so well for her, Melissa and I did the exact same thing. I picked September 13 and Melissa picked January 8. The dates had meaning to us, not that our family our family knew what it was. And we were not going to tell them. They supported us(they always did) in this. I loved them for that.

So, today was my birthday. We never made a (very) big deal about it. I already got a few presents, but I was still waiting for the rest. I wondered if they had something planned. I heard Mommy talk to Alice and Jasper earlier today, but I couldn't hear what they were saying. Richard distracted me.

Anyway, so I was in the living room. Messing with the piano. Everyone else said it was Edward's piano, but I didn't see his name on it. He wasn't the only one who played it. Well, I didn't really play it as much as I just mess with the keys. But uhh...I could play Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. Sort of. The right hand part. I was working on the left hand part. Edward was helping me. He said I just needed more practice.

Since I had nothing better to do...

"Twinkle, Twinkle," I sang, playing the first four notes.

"Little star," I continued, playing the next three notes.

"How I wonder," I sang playing the next four notes.

"What you are," Melisa sang entering the room. She waved at me and sat down next to me with a big smile.

"Hey sissy!" I greeted her. She smiled at me.

"Hey! So how has your birthday been?" she asked.

"Awesome! I wonder what they have planned," I said.

"Well, we're about to find out because Mommy told me to tell you to get dressed. Ally-gator and Jazzy pants are taking us somewhere," Melissa said. I laughed a little at her nicknames for Alice and Jasper. And got excited over the news. _'Yes!'_

"Yay!" I exclaimed, getting down and running to my room. Melissa followed me.

"What are you gonna wear?" Melissa asked. I looked at her as I climbed up the stairs.

"Does it matter?" I asked. Even after living with Alice for, like, forever, I still didn't have much of a passion for fashion. I just didn't see the point in it. I look at outfit my slightly shorter sister was wearing. I loved that I was taller than her. She was wearing a (bright) red, yellow, and green dress with a flower pattern that went well with her slightly tan skin. Melissa was a couple shades darker than me or Adriana. She also had pink leggings and yellow boots on, which I thought clashed but whatever. A green head band kept her long hair back and helped it frame her oval face and sky blue eyes. Someone was colorful today.

"Not to me. You know Alice will kill you if you don't look good," Melissa said. We entered our room.

"Why does it matter? We're little kids! And you look like a kindergartener painted you," I responded. Melissa shrugged.

"I like my look; it's the new trend. And like you said; we're little kids. So we have to do what they say. That includes looking our best. Even if we don't see the point in it," Melissa replied. I rolled my eyes and walked over to the closet. I looked through my part of the closet. Alice recently went shopping, so I had new stuff in here.

"How about this?" I asked. I grabbed a fuchsia short-sleeved dress with white swirls. I held it up.

"I like it," Melissa said. She walked over to her drawer. She looked though it for a few moments, before pulling out purple stockings.

"Here." She said throwing it to me. I caught it. I looked at my shoes. I grabbed my Mary Jane shoes, then I walk to the bathroom to change. After changing, I looked in the mirror.

* * *

My pale skin didn't clash with the fuchsia blouse, which was good. I sometimes had trouble finding finding clothes that went well this my skin tone. Melissa's stocking were comfortable and matched my shirt perfectly. I ran my fingers through my medium brown hair, shaking it out. It reached to the middle of my back. I styled it with my fingers, so it framed my roundish face well.

"How do I look?" I asked. Melissa gave me a thumbs up.

"Where are we going?" Adriana asked for the billionth time. How did they stay so calm?

"I'm not telling you. It's a surprise," Ally said. Adriana crossed her arms. She got stuck with the middle seat. Melissa called the window seat, and it's my birthday, so I automatically get one. Adriana had her curly red hair brushed back in a pony tail, which allowed her round face and dark green eyes to be seen without her hair getting in the way. A pink dress and white stocking were what she wore, along with white boots.

After a few seconds of silence, she started poking me in the arm, saying 'Bella' over and over.

"Ally, Jazzy, did we have to bring Adri? She's being annoying," I complained. Adriana huffed and hit me! I hit her back. Then she hit me. Then I hit her back. It continued on like that.

"Stop it you two!" Jasper said. Adriana and I stopped quickly. Jasper could be scary. I loved him(he was my big brother!), but he could be scary. It was quiet for a few moments.

"Does she have to be here?" I asked again. Adriana looks really offended.

"Bella, think about this: how annoying would she be if we didn't take her?" Alice asked. I thought about it. Yeah, Ally had a point. That would be so much worse.

"I am not annoying!" Adriana yelled. Melissa finally joined the conversation.

"Yes, you are," she said.

"No, I'm not," Adriana insisted.

"Yes, you are."

"No, I'm not."

"Yes, you are."

"No, I'm not."

"Okay, that's enough. We're here," Alice said, stopping Melissa and Adri's fight. I looked out the window. I was so caught up it the fight, I didn't notice my surroundings. Oh. My. God. It was a carnival.

"Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god, a carnival! I love carnivals!" I gushed. I unbuckled my seat belt. Alice opened my door and I got out fast. I loved carnivals. The rides, the foods, the games, the shows- I loved it. Loved it. Loved it. Loved it.

"Are we big enough to ride the big kid rides now?" Adriana asked. Last time we came, there was a lot we couldn't ride because we were too short. But we're taller now! Adriana especially; she was tallest out of us three.

"Well, Melissa may not be tall enough," Alice teased. I giggled. Melissa was shortest one and we never let forget it. Last time we measured, she was only 3 foot 10. That was a whole five inches shorter than me.

"Hey! At least I'm still growing. You're only a foot taller than me, and I'm eight," Melissa pointed out. Alice frowned. She got you there, Ally.

"Let's just go inside," Alice responded. She grabbed Melissa's hand and my hand. Jasper got Adriana.

"I just want to state for the record that I am not short. Everyone else is just freakishly tall," Melissa said. I giggled again.

"You're just making it worse. And that's not true," I told her.

"No, I'm not. And it's all in your point of view, my giant little sister," Melissa replied. I giggled again, and this time her joined me. We entered the carnival.

* * *

"Look a fun-house! Can we go in?" Melissa asked. We had been here... a while. We had ridden three rides and played four games and won three prizes. It was awesome. Best carnival ever. Ever!

"You can go in. Jasper and I will wait outside," Alice said. Melissa grabbed Adriana's hand and my hand, and pulled us to the fun-house. I didn't remember agreeing to go in there, but I must have.

The fun-house started with funny mirrors. The ones that make you look really fat or really tall. There was a lot. And a lot of people. The mirrors were funny. I laughed the entire time. We looked so weird!

After the mirrors comes this big spinning disk. The one you get on, then it starts to move and you get thrown off because it was spinning. But the walls were padded, so it didn't hurt. I sat in the near center with the other kids. Adriana moved on; she wanted to find the barrel of fun, this big spinning barrel. It was really hard to get through without falling. Melissa got on with me.

"This is so much fun!" I exclaimed after I got thrown off completely. I started to get up. A blond girl next to me, heard me.

"I know! I love fun-houses," the girl said. She looked a little older than me. I decided to see if she wanted to be friends.

"Hi! I'm Bella," I introduce myself. The girl got up.

"I'm Anna," the girl said. She and I walked toward the next part. I looked back and saw Melissa get on the spinning disk again.

"Are you new here? I've never seen you before and I know all the kids in town. At least the ones my age," Anna said. I shook my head.

"How can you know all the kids?" I asked, stepping into the barrel. After falling twenty times, I finally make it across by crawling.

"Simple silly. From school," Anna said. I reached out my hands and helped her out.

"I don't go to school yet," I told her. She looked at me surprised.

"Really? You look old enough," Anna said. I shrugged. We continued to the shaky stairs. They moved up and down and side to side. I almost fell a lot. Anna and I helped each other out.

"It's my birthday today," I told her. We continued to walk. Then bam! This burst of air hits us. I got so scared I screamed. So did Anna. I broke down laughing at her face. Anna laughed too, probably at me.

"Well, happy birthday! Are you going to start school soon?" Anna asked. I shrugged.

"I don't know," I told her. We hit the end of the fun-house, right before the slide. We stopped and waited a little.

"You should. School is really fun. The teachers are awesome. They teach you stuff like the ABC'S and how to read," Anna told me. I was about to say something, when I remembered that humans my age weren't as smart as me.

"That sounds cool," I said instead. She smiled.

"And recess is the funnest time ever! There's jump rope and games and slides and swings. Really, you should come," Anna said. I nodded. She slid down the slide and I followed behind.

"Well I got to go. Bye!" Anna said. I waved bye.

"Bye!" I said, running to Jasper, Alice, and Adriana. Melissa still hadn't come out.

"Have fun?" Jasper asked. I nodded and took my purple dolphin from his hands.

"Totally!" I answered.

* * *

"Blow out your candles and make a wish." Esme said. I thought carefully. What did I want? I didn't know what to wish for! I already got everything I wanted. _'Oh, wait! I know.'_ I took a deep breath and blow the candles out. I wished to make new friends. I loved my family, but I wanted to make new friends.

"Now can we eat the cake?" Adriana asked. I laughed and Esme said yes. She cut Adriana, Melissa, and me a big piece of cake. Chocolate cake. My favorite. I had seconds. Hey, it was my birthday. I could pig out.

I looked over at my gifts. I got a new book(Wuthering Heights) from Edward, a bracelet from Rosalie, a comic book from Richard, a cute white beret from Alice, a (half size) guitar from Jasper(he said he was going to teach me how to play it), and monopoly from Emmett. I got Mommy's, Daddy's, and Eric's present earlier today. They were in my room.

I finished my cake. Afterward, I took a shower, brushed my teeth, changed into my pajamas, and had Rosalie brush my hair which got unbelievably tangles at the carnival. I should have put it in a ponytail. I liked having my hair brushed. It was soothing. Anyway, I kinda dozed off in Rosalie's room, so she carried me to my room and tucked me in. I woke up a little when she set me down.

Rosalie left the room. I made myself comfortable in my bed and held my teddy bear close to me.

I loved my life.

**AN: That's the beginning. Did you like it? Were you disappointed? Were you not? Tell me, please. That's it for now.**


	2. Chapter 1

**Author's Note: So, this is the official first chapter, since the last one was a prologue. So far, I've gotten good reviews. So thank you. And to mjkcsk, don't worry. There will be pranks. Just be patient.**

**Once again, if you haven't read the first story, it's called Growing Up: In the Beginning.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight.**

**Chapter One**

**Welcome to Greenwood Elementary**

**Melissa's POV**

**Date: Monday, August 23rd, 1967. Physical age: Around 8**

"Melissa, wake up." _'Ugh. Go away! I'm sleeping. I don't wanna get out of bed.'_

"Melissa. It's time to get up." _'Mom! Go away! I refuse to get up!'_

"Go away," I mumbled. I turned over. But Mom grabbed me and pulled me out of bed. I glared sleepily at her. I was sleeping. Why did she wake me up? I was sleeping!

"Why did you wake me up?" I whined. I was still tired. Mom lead me the bathroom.

"It's the first day of school, remember," Mom said. That woke me up._ 'Oh my god! I so forgot. School starts today!'_ I ran to the bathroom to get ready. I heard Mom laugh at me, but I ignored it. I had to get ready for my first day of school.

* * *

"Breakfast time, breakfast time. I love breakfast time. Gonna eat some breakfast before I go to school," I sang, as I skipped into the kitchen. I hated waking up, but I liked mornings. Because mornings meant breakfast. And breakfast meant pancakes. And pancakes meant a happy me.

"Good morning Bella. Adriana," I greeted them as I sat down. Wow, I slept later than Adriana. _'How did that happen?'_

"Morning," Bella said. She was about halfway done with her food. Adriana had maybe two bites to go.

"Hey," Adriana said, her mouth full. I made a face. _'Gross. Have some manners, sis.'_

"No talking with your mouth open. That's disgusting," Bella said. Adriana rolled her eyes and swallowed.

"Whatever," Adriana replied. She finished off her pancake. Then she went upstairs to get dressed. Too bad Ally wasn't here to help her pick her outfit. Ally and all the others already went to high school. And daddy left for work. So that left mommy to get us ready and to get us to school.

Elementary school. That was where we were going today. We were going to school. I took a few small bites of my pancake. We were starting second grade. Bella and Adriana were starting as seven-year-old's and I was starting as an eight-year-old.

_'Is being nervous yet excited normal when it comes to school? Wait. There's a word for that. Oh yeah, anxious. Is being anxious normal? I mean, Bella and Adriana are in the same class, but I'm not. I'm all by myself. Since when are they the lucky ones? This isn't fair! I am so scared. What if no one likes me? What if I don't make friends? What if I'm an outsider? God I'm nervous. I hope I make friends.'_

Somehow I finished my breakfast. I grabbed my plates and took them to the sink. Then I went upstairs. _'Time to get ready for school.'_ I needed to look my best.

Well, according to Mommy, I needed to wear either a dress or a skirt and blouse. _'What to wear?'_ I decided to wear my white shirt and my green and black plaid skirt with white stockings. I grab a belt too. I liked my outfit. For shoes... I wore the ones that I could ran in without them getting too messed up.. Bella was using the bathroom, so I just changed in the room.

When I finished changing out of my pajamas with little sun pattern, I walked over to Mommy and Adriana. Mommy was clipping some of Adriana's hair back, so it wouldn't get in her way. I looked over at my hair accessories. I decided to use a headband today. I liked headbands. I grab my black headband and went back to mommy. When she finished with Adriana, she brushed my hair and then helped me put on the headband.

Then I walked downstairs with Adriana. She was wearing a black dress over a pink shirt and Mary Jane shoes with purple socks. All and all, it looked very nice. We went and got our backpacks. My backpack had a blank sketchbook and color pencils. I liked color pencils better than crayons. It also had pencils, erasers, a notebook, and a ruler.

I didn't know what Adriana had, but I thought she put some of her dolls in her backpack. Bella kept her backpack fairly empty, with the exception of the needed school supplies.

I grabbed my flower pattern lunch box. Alice said that we wouldn't like the school lunches, so we wouldn't eat them. Then by the time school was over, we would be so hungry that we would be in a very... disagreeable mood. So Mommy packed a lunch for us. I saw Mommy pack it, and I didn't think she packed enough food. It was supposed to be lunch, not a snack. She packed(for me) an apple, a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, a juice box, two cookies, some candy, and pudding. I knew that once upon a time, I would have eaten less than that and be full. But that was a long time ago. That was not enough now. _'I hope she has a snack ready when we get home.'_

"Ready to go?" Mommy said. Bella was behind her. I handed Bella her backpack.

"Ready!" Adriana answered. Mommy grabbed a set of key, and we left the house.

* * *

"Mommy, is there really nothing you can do?" I asked. There had to be something!

"Baby, I'm sorry but this might be good for you. It'll push you to make new friends," Mommy answered. I crossed my arms.

"But Bella and Adriana are in the same class! It isn't fair! I'll be alone!" I complained.

"I'm sorry, but my hands are tied." Mommy replied.

"No, they're not." I responded.

"Correction, there's nothing I can do." Mommy said. I sighed. _'Great. '_

"Melissa, cheer up! Knowing you, you'll be bossing all those kids around in a few days," Adriana said. I turned and glared at her.

"I am not bossy!" I exclaimed.

"Yes you are!" both Adriana and Bella replied. I huffed. I wondered if I could exchange my sisters for new ones.

"Melissa. Get out of the car," Mommy said. I could tell by her tone that she was getting fed up with me.

"No." I replied. I was not coming out. No way, no how. They would hate me. I knew it.

"Melissa, if you stay in there, you're be a coward," Adriana said. Bella nodded. Whatever, I didn't care what they said. I would always be braver than them.

"And a chicken," Bella said in a sing-song tone. _'I am not a chicken. I am independent and can make my own choices. And I choose to stay in the car.'_

"Whatever," I replied. Bella started to make chicken noises. She was not going to get to me.

"Bawk, bawk, bawk," Bella said. Alright, she got to me. I was not a coward! Or a chicken! I unfastened my seat beat and quickly got out.

"I am not a chicken," I told Bella. She shrugged at me. Yeah, I realized she was only doing that to trick me into leaving the car. But still, she hurt my pride.

"Whatever," Bella replied. _'Don't mock me. Bad sister. Where's a spray bottle when you need one.'_ Mommy lead us into the building. I looked up at the cloud covered sky and sighed. _'Please let today be a good day.'_

* * *

"Welcome class. I'm Ms. Harrison, your second grade teacher. Now, today I will let you sit wherever you like. But starting tomorrow, you will sit in alphabetical order. Understand?" The teacher- Ms. Harrison- said. I nodded along with my fellow classmates.

"Alright. For the next few minutes, you can talk before we start class." Ms. Harrison said.

All the other kids broke off into groups, talking and stuff. Since I didn't know anyone, I just kinda stood in the corner. I saw this blond girl sitting alone, with an empty seat behind her, so I walked up to her. _'Maybe I can be friends with her.'_

"Hi, I'm Melissa," I introduced myself. The blond girl turned to me and smiled. She had warm brown eyes, like Bella. _'I think I'll like her. No. I know I'll like her.'_

"I'm Anna," the girl said. She looked familiar. I cocked my head and sat down behind her. _'But from __where?'_

"You look familiar," I told her. _'Where do I know her from?'_

"I do?" Anna asked. I nodded. _'Now I know!'_

"Oh, I know! You were at the carnival last year. You talked with my sister, Bella," I told her. Her face lit up.

"Oh, yeah! I didn't see you, though," Anna replied.

"Yeah, but I saw you." I responded.

"You don't look like your sister that much," Anna said. I shrugged.

"We're adopted. I have another sister my age called Adriana. Maybe you'll meet her later. She and Bella are in this school. They got into the same class. Luckys," I replied.

"Cool. Maybe we're all be friends! My best friend moved away last summer, so I'm alone now," Anna said. She looked sad. I smiled at her.

"Hey, I'll be your friend. I like you," I told her. Anna smiled at me.

"Awesome!" She said. We were quiet for a few moments.

"You know, I'm not supposed to be in this grade. I'm supposed to be in third grade. But I started a year late," Anna said. Before I could reply, the teacher interrupted me.

"Alright students. Since it is the first day of school, I want all of you to introduce yourselves. Now, I will call you up and you will say somethings about yourself. Alright, let's begin. Jackie Aaron," Ms. Harrison said. A girl with short black hair got up and walked to the front of the class.

"Hi! I'm Jackie and I have two dogs. I love double dutch and hopscotch. I was born in New York and my dad owns a toy store," the girl said. She skipped back to her chair. _'Note to self, be friends with that girl.'_

"Good. Now, Dustin Baxter," Ms. Harrison called. A brown haired boy got up.

"Hi. I'm Dustin. I like sports and trucks," the boy said before returning to his seat. Short and to the point.

"Anna Bright," Ms. Harrison called. Anna got up.

"Hello. I'm Anna. I like going to the movies with my big sister and playing dress up," the girl said. Yeah, I liked her. Anna sat back down.

"That's very nice. Melissa Cullen," Ms. Harrison said. I gulped. _'Come on Melissa. You're half vampire. According to Emmett, you could easily kill one of these kids. It can't be that hard to talk in front of a class.' _I got up and walked to the front of the class.

"Um, hi. I'm Melissa and I have two adopted sisters who are in the second grade too. I like playing pretend, jump rope, and hide and seek." I said. I smile and walked back to my seat. _'Maybe today won't be too bad.'_

"Okay. So, we're going to start off the year with a little game. I'm going to see how much you know. If you know the answer, raise your hand. If I call on you, you can answer," Ms. Harrison said. That sounded cool. But I bet all the questions were going to be really easy.

"Okay, what is 2+2?" Ms. Harrison asked. _'Duh, four. What did Daddy say? To count to ten before answering. One. Two. Three.'_

"Jason," Ms. Harrison said. _'Oops. I think I took too long. I'll get the next one.'_

"Four?" Jason said. It didn't sound like he was too sure. Did they really not know how to add?

"That's right. Very good," Ms. Harrison said. She smiled at him.

"What is 2+3?" the teacher asked. _'One, two, three, that's long enough. I want to answer something.'_ I raised my hand.

"Melissa," the teacher said. Yay! She picked me.

"Five." I answered confidently. So I knew how to add, it couldn't be a bad thing for them to know. So what if I was smart.

"Right. Okay. Maybe these questions are too easy. Here's a harder one: what is 2x3?" Ms. Harrison asked. _'Easy, six. One, two, three, four, five, why isn't anyone raising their hands?'_ I raised my hand hesitantly. Maybe I shouldn't. Everyone said to be careful about how smart I look.

"Melissa," Ms. Harrison asked. _'To late to back out now.'_

"Six?" I said, doing my best to sound unsure. I shouldn't have answered. _'Damn.'_

"Correct. Very good," Ms. Harrison said. She looked proud. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad. But I shouldn't answer any more questions.

"Well, that's enough math for now. How about writing?" Ms. Harrison asked. She grabbed a piece of chalk.

"Who here can write their name?" Ms. Harrison asked. No one raised their name. Did that mean they couldn't write their name? I could. I could write a lot of things. I wrote a story once, but only because Esme made me. Bella was the one who liked to write stories. I liked poems. Poems were nice. I wrote this-

"Melissa," Ms. Harrison said, cutting off my train of thought. _'Looks like I'm writing.'_ I got up and grabbed the piece of chalk from the teacher, then moved to the chalkboard.

"M-e-l-i-s-s-a," I said softly while I wrote. The letters came out nice and neat.

"C-u-l-l-e-n," I said writing my last name. Then I stepped back and handed the chalk to Ms. Harrison.

"Very good. Who taught you to write?" Ms. Harrison asked.

"My mom," I answered her. The teacher dismissed me, so I went back to my chair.

_'I think I'll like school.'_

**AN: Alright, this is the official first chapter. Did you like it? It was going to be shorter, but I added more. The next chapter will be Adriana's POV. Tell me what you think.**


	3. Chapter 2

**Author's Note: Hey everyone! I'm glad you enjoyed the last chapter. I hope you enjoy this one too. I don't have much to say. School is starting soon, and I have a lot on my plate. The updates might be awhile. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight. **

**Chapter Two**

**First Day of School**

**Adriana's POV**

**Date: Monday, August 23rd, 1967. Physical age: Around 8**

So this is school. I don't know what I was expecting, but not this. This doesn't seem as bad as my older siblings make it out to be. I knew they were exaggerating. I mean, if school was really as bad as they say, why do they keep going back? Liars.

I grab Bella's hand and drag her away from the door. I feel bad for Melissa; being alone is that classroom. But better her than me. Plus, she'll be fine. I bet she's already made a friend. Why am I thinking about her? I should focus on making friends myself.

"Adri, let go." Bella whispers. I ignored her. Who should we talk to? While I have no problem going up to a groups of kids, I don't think Bella would like it. She's so shy. For her sake, I'll look for a small group or maybe someone by themselves. Yeah, that would be best. I see this girl sitting in the corner, all by herself. Oh, she's perfect!

"Hi!" I say cheerfully, walking up to the girl(still dragging Bella behind me). I let go of Bella and smile at the girl. The girl looks up at me before quickly looking back down at her hands. She looked surprised. I wonder why. And why isn't she looking at me?

"Hello." The girl whispered. Wow, that was low. How does she expect humans to hear her if she speaks so quietly? Good thing I'm not human!

"I'm Adriana. But you can call me Adri. This is my sister Bella." I say. The girl didn't look up. Rude. Or maybe she's just really shy. Sometimes Bella won't look us in the eye.

"Can we sit here?" I ask, trying to keep the conversation going. She nodded, so I take the seat in front of her. Bella sat behind her. Wow, she's really making this hard. Maybe I should find some else to be friends with.

"You don't say much, do you?" I ask. She nods. On the other hand, it might be fun to try to get her out of her shell.

"What's your name?" Bella asks. The girl looked up at us, but she doesn't make eye contact.

"Catherine. You can call me Cat." The girl- Cat answers. Seriously, she needs to speak up.

"Nice to meet you Cat. Why were you sitting here by yourself?" I ask. Despite being (annoyingly) quiet(I'm still getting used to Bella!), she seems like an okay girl.

"Because." Cat says. That's not an answer.

"That doesn't answer my question, but whatever. What do you like to do?" I ask. Come on, give me something to work with.

"Uh... I like playing with my dolls. And... playing dress up." Cat answers. Good, something I can work with. I like those things too!

"Awesome! Maybe we can play during recess." I say, then drop my voice to a whisper, "I brought some of my dolls."

"Really?" Bella asks. I nod. She rolled her eyes at me. Oh, stop it.

"Well... That sounds fun. I'd like that." Cat relies. She smiled at me. Yay! Finally.

"Great! We can-" I start, before getting rudely interrupted.

"Listen up class! I am Mr. Barrett. This is second grade. Now, you SHOULD have learned how to read and write in first grade. Raise your hand if you know how to read." The teacher asks. Wow. He's bossier than Melissa. I raise my hand, along with(10, 11, 12) 13 other students(excluding Bella). That's like only half the class.

"How many of you can write?" Mr. Barrett asks. Nine students dropped their hands. Seriously? Humans are a disappointment. If they weren't so fun to play with...

"How disappointing. I hope you don't expect me to make exceptions for you. You need help, ask your parents. Otherwise, don't complain." Mr. Barrett says to us. I drop my hand. I don't think I'm going to like my teacher. I wonder if I can switch.

"Now, by the end of this year, you will learn how to add and subtract, how to measure, and how to write proper sentences. I will cover basic Earth science and historic events. I expect you to pay attention." Mr. Barrett continued, moving to the chalkboard. Blah, blah, blah, blah; I stopped listening after learn.

"We will begin with seeing how much you learned in first grade." Mr. Barrett finished, grabbing a piece of chalk. I'm bored already. How much longer until lunch?

* * *

"Those of you who have lunch from home, you can go outside to eat. The rest, come with me to the cafeteria." Mr. Barrett says. Finally! I am STARVING. God. My stomach is eating itself. I wonder what Mommy packed. I hope she packed something good!

"Hey Cat, do you wanna eat with us?" Bella asks, grabbing her book bag(which I saw her put her lunch box in) and getting out of her chair. Cat pick her lunch box up(but left her book bag) and nodded. I picked up my book bag(which has my dolls) and my lunch box, then got up. We(and four other kids) left to eat outside.

"Hey Cat do all the second grade class eat at the same time?" I ask her. I wonder if Melissa can join us.

"Yeah I think so. Why?" Cat answers. I look around the schoolyard. I was about to reply, when I spotted my other sister.

"MELISSA! Over here!" I yell, waving. Melissa(and a blond girl) whipped around. Melissa smiles and shakes her head at me, before she and the girl walk over.

"Who's Melissa?" Cat asks. We walk over to one of the benches and sit down.

"Our sister. She's the one with the black hair. I don't know who the blond girl is." I answer. Who is she? I guess Melissa made new friend too. I hope she's nice.

"Hey. I know you. You're Anna, from the carnival." Bella says, as Melissa and the girl get closer.

"Yep! Nice to see you again." Anna says cheerfully.

"Well, it's nice to meet you! I'm Adriana. Let's eat." I say, interrupting Bella's response. I'm hungry; we can talk later. I open my lunch box.

"Let's. I am starving. I can hear my stomach growl." Melissa says, sitting down next to Kitty on the bench. I grab my sandwich and start eating.

"Hi, I'm Melissa-though I'm sure you already know that. You are?" Melissa asks, opening her lunch box and taking out her sandwich.

"I'm Catherine, but you can call me Cat." Kitty answers.

"She's our new friend." I add, my mouth full. Melissa and Bella glared at me.

"Stop talking with your mouth full!" Melissa demanded. Stop being bossy! Meany. I shallow and stick my tongue out at her.

"You're not the boss of me." I reply. Melissa takes a bite of her sandwich and shallows before responding.

"When Mom and Dad aren't around, yes I am." Melissa responds. I roll my eyes and go back to eating. Mm... ham sandwich.

* * *

"Okay. So what do we play?" I ask, after we all finish our lunches. It's still lunch time.

"We can play with my dolls." I suggest, putting my lunch box in my book bag. Cat nodded, Bella shrugged, but Anna and Melissa said no. So no playing with my dolls today.

"We can play tag." Melissa suggests. This time I was the who said no.

"Simon Say?" Melissa says. Oh! I love that game. Bella and I nodded.

"What's Simon Says?" Anna asks. What. She doesn't know what Simon says is. Are you kidding me?

"It's really simple. First, we pick to be Simon." Melissa says.

"You should do it. You're the one explaining the game." Bella replies. Melissa nods.

"Okay. So I'm Simon. As Simon, I'm going to tell you stuff that you have to do. Stuff like spinning, or jumping, or doing a handstand. The catch is, you only do what I say if the sentence starts with Simon Says." Melissa continues. She walks in front of us and turns to us.

"For example, if I say, 'Simon says jump,' you jump" Melissa explains. Then she looks at us expectantly. What? Oh, she wants us to jump.

"Oh, we're playing the games now. Okay." I say, starting to jump. The other girls start too.

"Now. If I say 'stop', you can't just stop. I have to say, 'Simon says stop,'." Melissa says. I stop jumping.

"Now, If I don't say 'Simon says', but you still do whatever it is I said to do, then you're out. If I say 'Simon Says', but you don't do what I say, then you're out. Last person playing wins. You got it?" Melissa finishes. Anna and Kitty nod.

"Good. Then we can start. Simon says touch your nose." Melissa says. I touch my nose.

"Simon says touch your toes." Melissa says. I reach down and touch my toes.

"Simon says spin around." Melissa says. I start to spin around. Whoa, I'm getting dizzy.

"Stop." Melissa says. I keep spinning. She didn't say Simon says.

"Anna, you're out. I didn't say Simon says." Melissa says. I hear someone stomp her foot.

"Simon says stop." Melissa says. I stop. Totally dizzy. I think I'm going to fall.

"Simon says jump." Melissa says. I jump.

"Jumping Jacks." Melissa says. No got fooled this time.

"Good. You're getting the hang of it. This will be a fun game. Yay!" Melissa says. She smiles at us. She loves being Simon.

* * *

"And Cat wins! Yay Cat!" Melissa announces. She cheated! Not Cat, Melissa. I don't how, but she cheated. She wanted me to lose.

"The teachers are calling us. Looks like it's time to go back to class," Cat says. It's over already? Great. More boring talk from my teacher. Someone kill me now.

"See you later Melissa, goodbye Anna." I say, walking away. Cat and Bella say their goodbyes and follow me.

* * *

"School is over, school is over. Time to go home. I going to eat a snack that hopefully my mom made." I sing, walking out of my classroom. Cat and Bella followed behind me. School is over for the day. And I kinda want a snack.

"There's Melissa; we have to go. Our big brother Eric is picking us up. He's probably here already." Bella told Cat. We said our goodbyes and left to join up with Melissa.

"Hey! Come on, let's go find Eric in the parking lot. I want to get out of here." I say to Melissa. We walked toward the exit.

"Eager. Didn't you have a good day?" Melissa asks. We exited the school and started looking for Eric's car.

"Lunch was awesome. This morning was good. The actual class time was boring, tedious, and I think my brain melted into goo." I complain. I feel like I got dumber.

"There he is! And I know what you mean. This is way too easy." Melissa answers back. We walk over to the car.

"I call shotgun!" Melissa says before I can even think about where I'm going to sit. Damn it! School is making me slower. I need to speed up. How do you speed up your mind?

"Fine." Bella and I say. We walk over to the car. I like Eric's car. It's red. Like my hair. I like red.

"Hey Eric." I greet him, climbing into the car. Melissa and Bella say similar greetings.

"What's with the lack of energy?" Eric asks, starting the car.

"A combination of hunger and boredom is to blame." Melissa explains. She could have just said school. I think he would have gotten the idea. Eric nodded.

"Did you have a good time?" Eric asks.

"We made two new friends and everyone was nice to us. All and all, it was a good day." Bella says.

"Hey, turn on the radio. It's too quiet in here." Melissa says. Eric turned it on and 'Respect' by Aretha Franklin came on. I love this song! I am in love with this song. I have Edward play it all the time(Daddy really shouldn't have bought me the song).

"(Ooh) What you want  
(Ooh) Baby, I got  
(Ooh) What you need  
(Ooh) Do you know I've got it  
(Ooh) All I'm askin'  
(Ooh) Is for a little respect when you come home (Just a little bit)  
Hey baby (Just a little bit) when you get home  
(Just a little bit) mister (Just a little bit)," I sing along with the radio.

"I ain't gonna do you wrong while you're gone  
Ain't gonna do you wrong (Ooh) 'cause I don't want to (Ooh)  
All I'm askin' (Ooh)  
Is for a little respect when you come home (Just a little bit)  
Baby (Just a little bit) when you get home (just a little bit)  
Yeah (Just a little bit)," Bella sings. I sing along with the background singers.

"I'm about to give you all of my money  
And all I'm askin' in return, honey  
Is to give me my profits  
When you get home (Just a, just a, just a, just a)  
Yeah baby (Just a, just a, just a, just a)  
When you get home (Just a little bit)  
Yeah (Just a little bit)," Melissa sings. I'm still doing the background vocals.

"I'm about to give you all of my money  
And all I'm askin' in return, honey  
Is to give me my profits  
When you get home (Just a, just a, just a, just a)  
Yeah baby (Just a, just a, just a, just a)  
When you get home (Just a little bit)  
Yeah (Just a little bit)" I sing, switching to the main lyrics.

"Ooh, your kisses (Ooh)  
Sweeter than honey (Ooh)  
And guess what (Ooh)  
So is my money (Ooh)  
All I want you to do (Ooh) for me  
Is give it to me when you get home (Re, re, re ,re)  
Yeah baby (Re, re, re ,re)  
Whip it to me (Respect, just a little bit)  
When you get home, now (Just a little bit)," Bella and I sing.

"R-E-S-P-E-C-T  
Find out what it means to me  
R-E-S-P-E-C-T  
Take care, TCB," Melissa sings. That is her favorite part.

"Oh (Sock it to me, sock it to me,  
sock it to me, sock it to me)  
A little respect (Sock it to me, sock it to me,  
sock it to me, sock it to me)  
Whoa, babe (Just a little bit)  
A little respect (Just a little bit)  
I get tired (Just a little bit)  
Keep on tryin' (Just a little bit)  
You're runnin' out of foolin' (Just a little bit)  
And I ain't lyin' (Just a little bit)  
(Re, re, re, re) 'spect  
When you come home (Re, re, re ,re)  
Or you might walk in (Respect, just a little bit)  
And find out I'm gone (Just a little bit)  
I got to have (Just a little bit)  
A little respect (Just a little bit)," The three of us sing together. This song is so fun.

"I love that song!" I say.

"You're not the only one." Melissa says. The next song comes on. 'Stop! In the Name of Love' by The Supremes. Yay!

* * *

So we sang along to every song that came on. I mean every song. The ride went by fast. But now we're home and it's time for a snack.

"Mommy! We're home," I announce, walking in. I walk into the kitchen. Yum, plate of cookies! I grab one and cram it in my mouth. Manners, shmanners- I'm hungry.

"Seriously Adri? Seriously! Can you at least pretend you have manners?" Melissa says, walking in. She grabs two cookies and hands one to Bella.

"That's like asking a fish to fly. It isn't going to happen." Bella comments. Hey! That's mean.

"Bella, Melissa, please don't exaggerate. And Adriana, you know better." Mom says, walking in. I shrug.

"Hey Mom. We had a boring, but good day at school. Did you miss us? I bet your day was boring too." Melissa says. Mom chuckled a bit.

"Did I miss you? Yes, very much. I won't say I was bored though. It was nice to have some peace and quiet," Mom says. I can't blame her. We all need a break sometimes.

"Well, we made two friends at school. Anna and Cat. And during recess/lunch, we played Simon Says. You know, we should bring chalk tomorrow so we can play hopscotch. Or maybe draw. That could be fun. Anyway, Cat won the game. Melissa was Simon. I got second place. After the game, we went back to class. I don't like my teacher, he's boring. I hope the rest of the school year isn't so boring." I tell mommy.

"Let's hope it's not. So, are you looking forward to tomorrow?" Mom responded. I nod. I may not like my teacher, but aside from that it's okay.

"Oh! But really sucks is that he gave Bella and I homework. We have to write about our family life. So we can prove we know how to write. Half of the class doesn't even know how to read. Can you believe that?" I continue, stopping to eat. I ate the last cookie, so I take the plate to the sink. Still a little hungry, so I grab an apple from the fridge.

"Really? Children are supposed to know how to read and write by second grade. I guess some just learn slower than other. Remember to dumb down your writing. No showing off your vocabulary." Mom reminded us. I know, I know. We have to be careful, yadda, yadda, yadda.

"I remember. Anyway, I'm gonna go upstairs and watch TV in my room. I think it's time for the Flintstones." I say, leaving the room.

"Wait up!" I hear Bella say. She and Bella join me on the stairs. Time to relax.

**AN: So, sometimes in small town schools, first grade teachers don't do their job. That annoys the second grade teachers. They consider telling their male principle to fire the pretty 28-year-old, but then they remember that isn't going to happen. What are you going to do?**

**Sorry about the wait. Been a bit busy. And I've been working on my outline for this story. There's one chapter I'm looking forward to writing. As of now, it's the 10th chapter. That might change. The only reason I want to write it is that it has this one scene that is based on an awesome movie. I've also been working on the girls back story, powers, and stuff. Got it all written out. Just don't know when I'm going to mention it all. **

**But that's not your problem. Please review!**


	4. Chapter 3

**Author's Note: School sucks. Having to wake up early, listening to lectures, learning- it all sucks. I want it to be summer again! **

**Sorry about the wait. And I'm sorry to report, but it's gonna be awhile until the next chapter comes out. A long while. School really sucks. Really, really sucks.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight.**

**Chapter Three**

**Ladies of the Round Table**

**Bella's POV**

**Date: Saturday, August 28, 1967**

"Listen up! If you are not female, you have 10 minutes to get out of this house or else," Adriana exclaimed. I was tempted to ask her 'or else what', but I did not want to evoke her anger. Hopefully, one of the men would.

"Why?" Emmett asked. Wrong question. Stupid Emmett, focusing on the cause and not the result.

"Because. Adriana, and I think Rosalie and Alice, have planned a girls only party to celebrate getting through the first week of school. So, unless you have recently had a sex change we don't know about, you have to leave." I answered. The sooner they left, the sooner I could fight Alice for my right to not wear a princess gown. I didn't care if Adri was going to.

"I don't see why I have to leave." Emmett replied. Adriana was about to response, but I stopped her. I turned her around and pushed her toward the stairs. She had last minute details to attend. Like food. Plus, I liked this part.

"Sure Emmie, You can stay. Just let me go get your pink gown and heels. What size are you?" I asked him, with a serious face. He turned around, grabbed his wallet and keys, and left. Without a word. The remaining men(Richard and Edward) left shortly after.

"Alice. Do I have to dress up?" I said, not bothering to raise my voice even though Alice was upstairs. The house was quiet. She had no problem hearing me.

"Yes. You do." Alice replied. I sighed and walked upstairs. _'Time to fight.'_

* * *

"Do you hate me? Did I do something?" I asked. _'Seriously, did I?'_

"Bella. No, on both accounts. Now please, stop being difficult and put on the dress." Alice replied. No. I hated that dress. I was not dressing up!

"No." I answered. I was not doing it. I was not. It was pretty but I didn't want to wear it.

"Come on-" Alice began.

"No!" I cut her off. I could keep this up as long as I needed. I was pretty stubborn.

"Bella-" Alice started.

"Ally, just drop it. You can't force her." Melissa said, walking into the room. Alice huffed and walked out of the room. She looked like a little kid who didn't get her way.

"Thanks Melissa. Are you gonna dress up?" I asked her. She nodded and pulled up a nice light purple dress. It wasn't too much, yet still very dressy.

"Cool. So are we really gonna have a tea party? I kinda tuned Ally and Adri out," I said to her.

"Yep. With tea cups and everything. The only thing we're missing is tea," Melissa replied.

"How do you have a tea party without tea?" I asked.

"You get apple juice and pretend it's tea." Melissa explained, closing the door so she could change. I moved to the closet to get my outfit. I was still in my pajamas. God, I was lazy.

"Then shouldn't it be called a juice party?" I said. _'What to wear? What to wear?'_

"You would think that. But no. It's still a tea party apparently," Melissa said. I finally decided to change into a dressy blouse and skirt. That should be enough to please Alice and get her off my back.

"So...How much blackmail are we talking about here?" I whispered to her, after someone turned on a radio. Honestly, aside from the food, the only reason I agreed to do this was because Melissa mentioned this would an awesome opportunity to get dirt on the boys. We were seriously running low(we didn't make empty threats).

"Hopefully, a lot. I need it for my next few pranks," Melissa whispered back. I nodded.

"We'll get it." I told her. I doubted there was anything we couldn't do, if we really, really try.

"Well, let's get out there." Melissa said. She finished putting on her shoes and we left the room.

* * *

"Okay. I'm gonna be blunt and say it: the only reason I'm here is to hear embarrassing stories. I know you got them, so start dishing," Melissa told everyone, after she finished her cookies(which were amazing! Mom was the best cook ever!). I was sitting next to Melissa and Adriana. Rosalie, Alice, and Esme were sitting across from us.

"Why should we tell you anything?" Alice said, raising an eyebrow. Melissa didn't say anything, but a few seconds later, Alice's face went blank before a sheer look of terror passed over her face.

"You wouldn't," Alice said, low and with an edge. I didn't wanna know what she saw.

"Try me," Melissa snapped. You know, she was my role model. She really was my role model.

"Fine. Anyone in particular?" Alice responded. Melissa shrugged. I leaned in a little, partly in anticipation, partly to steal a cookie from Adriana's plate.

"No. I'm good with anything." Melissa answered.

"Well, I do know this really good one about Edward," Alice said, chuckling. Oh, I NEEDED to hear this.

"Tell it!" I said. Alice smiled and began.

"Well, this was shortly after Edward got the green light to attend school. We were in this small school, which at the most about 85 students. Let's just say, Edward had a wardrobe malfunction," Alice said. Rosalie laughed a little.

"Oh, I remember that. The school had mandatory PE classes. They separated girls and boys into different classes. Edward had the same PE class as Eric and Jasper," Rosalie continued. She and Alice were still giggling. I wanted to know what was so funny!

"Now, this was back before Edward learned to keep his comments to himself. So, it wasn't strange if one of us was mad at him. Near the middle of the year, Edward ended up really pissing off Eric," Alice continued, smiling. Rosalie nodded.

"So, to get back at him, he and Jasper came up with a little prank," Rosalie said. Then Mom laughed.

"I know I shouldn't support this type of behavior, but that was funny," She said.

"Jasper told the coach that Edward was thinking about joining a sports team. So, after the class was over, the coach pulled him aside before Edward could change out of his gym clothes. According to Jasper, they spent 10 or so minutes talking," Alice said.

"While they were talking, Eric switched out Edward's clothes with a pink blouse and black skirt. Along with heels and I think pantyhose. Don't ask me what he did with Edward's clothes, I have no idea," Rosalie told us.

"So, when Edward went in to change, you can imagine his surprise when he saw what was in his locker," Alice continued.

"Now, Eric didn't leave it at that. Edward could have easily just gone the rest of the day in his gym clothes. Instead, Eric used his powers to impersonate a teacher and force Edward into changing," Rosalie said, giggling. No way. He did not. I started laughing. _'I would give anything to have been there.'_

"So Edward came out of the locker room, dressed as a girl with heels. Eric didn't want to press his luck with the pantyhose We were able to get a front row seat to this. Well, us and the most gossipy, rumor-spreading group of girls that ever lived. By the end of the day, the entire town knew about this," Alice said. I really wished I was there.

"But it didn't end there, though. Eric, again, used his power and made himself into a complete stranger. Then, he walked up to Edward from behind, and pulled down his skirt along with his boxers," Rosalie said. No freaking way! I would do anything to have seen his face.

"After that, Eric left him alone. Until the next morning, when he blackmailed Edward into going to school to face everyone." Alice finished. All of us were laughing.

"That is just... awesome on so many levels," Melissa said, calming down. She took a small sip from her glass.

"I need to team up with him. Soon," Melissa said after setting the glass down. Once I stopped laughing, I turned to the vampires and asked.

"Have any other funny stories?"

"Then Emmett turned around to see an entire class of freshmen laughing at him. Since that day, Emmett hates the song 'Take me out to the ball game'." Rosalie finishes. Oh god. Who knew vampires did such embarrassing things?

"Hey Rosalie. Can you teach me how to play that song?" I asked her. I had an idea.

"Sure. By when?" Rosalie asked. I- no wait- we needed time.

"By Christmas. I have an awesome idea for what to give Emmett as a present. But I need balloons, whip cream, feathers, blue glitter, and glue. And your help," I said. I knew Melissa was in, she didn't need to nod. They all agreed to help(well, mom took a little bit of convincing). _'Now, to wait. And plan.'_

"While we're at it, why don't we remind all the boys of their embarrassing moments. You know, like give Edward a blouse and skirt. That kind of stuff. It would be so funny!" Melissa suggested. _'Damn it! Couldn't she let me have my moment before upstaging me. But I admit, that is a good idea. '_

"I like it. But there's one problem." I told her. Melissa looked surprised.

"We don't have any embarrassing stories about Daddy." I said, turning to Mom. She hadn't given us anything yet. She had to give us something to remind him of. Who better than her?

"It's not that I don't want to tell you one, it's just I'm having trouble picking which ones. You have no idea the kinds of things that have happened to him. It would take more time than we have to tell you every one," Mom said.

"Pick one and tell us!" Adri said.

"Fine. There is this one that happened a shortly after Richard joined us. It was a normal day at the hospital..."

* * *

"Wait, so Daddy just-" Melissa said, not finishing the sentence. She looked speechless. I knew I was. I thought Daddy was smart. Weren't doctors suppose to be smart?

"Yes." Mom answered.

"How? How does that- I don't- I... I...I don't know what to say! Who in their right mind thinks that is a good idea?" I finally said. _'Yeah, we gonna use that. We have to. We have to remind him of this.'_

"We have to use this story! I want to see Dad's face when he remembers it," Adriana said.

"Totally! We should really plan our attack. But first... Mommy, can we have more cookies?" Melissa said. She gave Mom puppy dog eyes.

"Fine." Mom said, getting up. Yay!

* * *

"It's... boring. I get bored a lot, going over stuff I've already learned. But I wouldn't say it's bad. I like meeting new people and sometimes the teacher gives us something that is mildly challenging. Like on Thursday, we had to write a poem. That normally wouldn't be hard, but I had to dumb down my writing, which is harder than you think. I don't know what normal kids write about!" I explained, stopping for a second to take a bite of my cookie. I was sitting on the kitchen counter, talking to Mommy. Melissa was at the kitchen table with Adriana and Alice. Rosalie was leaning against the wall.

"So I spent like an entire minute on just figuring out what to write about. In the end, I picked butterflies. I like butterflies. So I wrote a small eight line poem about how much I like butterflies. Mr. Barrett say it was good. I'm sure he was just being polite," I said. I took another bite of my cookie.

"That reminds me! Ms. Harrison told my class to write something over the weekend for homework. I decided to write a song," Melissa started.

"Of course," I interjected. I was not surprised. She's always singing and writing stuff. Although, to be fair, I did the same thing with stories. I was always reading and writing. In fact, I was planning on writing a book. An awesome book.

"Shut up," Melissa said to me, "Anyway, I already wrote my song. I wanted to be really cute, so I wrote a song called 'I want a Hippopotamus for Christmas'. It's super adorable! I can't wait to sing it in class."

"Wow. Could we afford a hippopotamus?" Adriana asked._ 'Really Adriana? Huh, could we?'_

"Hello! Girls that is not the point. The point is I wrote an amazingly cute song and I want you to hear it!" Melissa said. She really loved the spotlight.

"I don't wanna hear your song," I answered before anyone else could. I realized that at this point, I really didn't have a choice. I was going to hear it by the end of the day. Plus, I was curious. I wanted to hear it. But I also wanted to torture Melissa for a little bit.

"Who asked you!" Melissa replied.

"You did." I answered back. Melissa shook her head.

"No. I didn't. You have no choice, I'm going to sing it," Melissa snapped. Good point.

"I could leave the room," I replied. I would never do that. I was sure she knew that.

"You wouldn't dare," Melissa hissed. I nodded.

"You're right. I wouldn't. Go and sing your stupid song," I said. Melissa huffed and crossed her arms.

"When you put it like that-" Melissa began. I cut her off.

"Just sing."

"You know, when you were telling us about your story, I listened and didn't complain," Melissa said. I rolled my eyes.

"Just sing," Melissa got up and took a deep breath.

"_I want a hippopotamus for Christmas  
Only a hippopotamus will do  
Don't want a doll, no dinky Tinker Toy  
I want a hippopotamus to play with and enjoy" _Okay, I would admit. That was cute. Melissa was even doing a little dance.

"I want a hippopotamus for Christmas  
I don't think Santa Claus will mind, do you?  
He won't have to use our dirty chimney flue  
Just bring him through the front door, that's the easy thing to do"

Yes, you were right. Using the front door would be the easy thing to do. But Santa liked using dirty chimneys.

_"I can see me now on Christmas morning, creeping down the stairs_  
_Oh what joy and what surprise when I open up my eyes_  
_To see a hippo hero standing there"_

_This song needed music. But what kind?_

_"I want a hippopotamus for Christmas_  
_Only a hippopotamus will do_  
_No crocodiles, no rhinoceroses_  
_I only like hippopotamuses_  
_And hippopotamuses like me too"_

Wow, Melissa was good at keeping the lyrics childlike. You would think a real 8-year-old wrote this.

_"Mom says the hippo would eat me up, but then_  
_Teacher says a hippo is a vegeterian"_

_Okay, at this point I had to laugh._

_"There's lots of room for him in our two-car garage_  
_I'd feed him there and wash him there and give him his massage"_

The funny thing was that I was pretty sure we could fit a hippo in our garage.

_"I can see me now on Christmas morning, creeping down the stairs_  
_Oh what joy and what surprise when I open up my eyes_  
_To see a hippo hero standing there" But why would anyone want a hippo?_

_"I want a hippopotamus for Christmas_  
_Only a hippopotamus will do_  
_No crocodiles or rhinoceroseses_  
_I only like hippopotamuseses_  
_And hippopotamuses like me too!"_

Melissa finished. She bowed and then started jumping, yelling 'what did you think!' over and over and over.

"That was awesome! It was so cute," Adriana exclaimed.

"I liked it. But you need music to go along with it," I said.

"That song was brilliant, Melissa." Alice said. Rosalie and Alice said similar things.

"Thank you, thank you." Melissa said, sitting back down.

"How did you come up with that?" I asked. I went to grab another cookie, but Mom slapped my hand away. Damn!

"Anna gave me the idea. She said that getting a pet hippo or tiger or something would be an awesome Christmas present. We were talking about past Christmases and what presents we got," Melissa answered. I nodded and tried to get a cookie again. Mom stopped me.

"I like Anna, she's nice. Not like Rachel and Sophia," Adriana said. Oh god, I hated them!

"Rachel and Sophia?" Mom asked.

"Two girls from our class. They are so stuck up. The two of them, along with Mia and Morgan, are the class bullies. I hate them!" I explained. They thought they were all that, but they were not.

"Wait, are those that girls that made fun of how much we eat?" Melissa asked. Adri and I nodded.

"Oh. I have some kids like that in my class too. Olivia and Lauren. I ignore them. They're not worth my time," Melissa said. She had a point. They were not worth anyone's time.

"Hey? When do you think the boys are coming back?" I asked. I just noticed that it was getting dark. Today was pretty fun. _'We should kick the guys out more often.'_

"As soon as we call them and say it's okay," Alice answered.

"We should give them a surprise when they come back," Adriana said.

"Like what?" Alice asked.

"I don't know. We could cover their stuff with aluminum foil. That could be fun," Adriana sayid.

"I don't think we have enough aluminum foil for that," Rosalie said.

"No, we do." Melissa said. I knew she was referring to the prank supplies we had collected over the years. I was amazed at what we had. Balloons, several cans of whip cream, confetti, sticky notes(we restocked a couple of years ago), jello packets, dogs whistles(they were the most annoying sound ever!), fake stuff(e.g Fake dog doo, fake throw up), Styrofoam, bubble wrap, just a lot of random stuff. The family knew we had stuff, but that was it.

"Your prank supplies?" Mom said. We nodded. Last time I did inventory, we had 32 rolls. We had stolen five from the kitchen since then, so we had 37 rolls. That was enough.

"Between the six of us, we should be able to get all their stuff wrapped up pretty quickly," I said.

"We really shouldn't encourage you," Mom said. I rolled my eyes.

"Mom, it's harmless fun. It's not like we've breaking anything. Relax," I said. I knew that as a parent, she had to say that. But we knew when enough was enough.

"There hasn't been a good prank in a while. Why not?" Rosalie said.

"I agree. Why not?" Alice said. Melissa got up.

"Alright then. Adriana and I can get the aluminum foil, the rest of you can plan out what we're going to cover." Melissa said, grabbing Adriana's hand. They left the room, off to go to our playhouse. We didn't keep our prank stuff in the house.

"Let's go!" I said, getting down from the counter.

* * *

"So, how much longer?" I asked Alice, once she got off the phone.

"They'll be here in 11 minutes. You almost done?" Alice replied. I nodded. Just putting on the finishing touches.

"I liked today. It was a good day," I said, stepping back to admire my handiwork. I was in Alice's room. Only half of the room was cover in foil. Jasper's stuff. But we made sure to cover EVERYTHING he owned. Even the packets of paper and pencils.

"Yes, it was," Alice said.

"Do you think you could get me another cookie?" I said her. Mom wouldn't let me eat anymore cookies.

"Sure. Come on," Alice said, walking out the room. I followed her, smiling. I loved my sisters.

**AN: Thank you for reading, and please review!**


	5. Chapter 4

**Author's Note: I warned you. That's all I have to say. I warned that it would be awhile. I have a lot of my plate.**

**And school started on the 20th of August for me.**

**Anyway, I hope you like it! Review please!**

******Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight.**

**Chapter Four**

**Adventures in Second Grade: Part 1**

**Third Person POV**

**Date: **Thursday, January 23rd, 1968 **Time: **Afternoon

**Place**: Greenwood Elementary playground

Bella was having a relaxing lunch. Adriana was busy showing Cat and Emma(a new friend) this interesting game she came up with. Melissa was talking with Anna, Alyssa, and Jackie about a slumber they were planing. It's going to be hosted at Jackie's house.

This allowed Bella to get away with just sitting under a tree, eating her apple and reading her new book. While she didn't mind playing her sisters and friends, somethings it got exhausting. She liked to have a quiet lunch every once in a while. She needed a break; you would to if you lived with them.

Having finished her short, (physical) age appropriate book, Bella set it down and watched the other kids play. Bella thought the human kids were a little silly at times. Everyday, some group of kids are fighting over something stupid. She didn't get it. Why couldn't they just get along?

Bella was too focused on her thought to notice her fellow student creeping up on her. Anthony Jefferson, an eight-year-old boy, thought it would be fun to mess with Bella. He does it a lot. Anthony walked up to her from behind and grabbed her book.

"Hey!" Bella shouted. Bella reached out to grab it, but Anthony ran away.

"Give me my book back!" Bella yelled, running after him.

"Why should I? You're a girl, you don't need to read no book," Anthony said. Bella shook her head.

"That's grammatically incorrect. You can't use double negatives," Bella said. Anthony stopped and looked confused.

"Wha?" He said.

"You're stupid and give me by book back!" Bella answered. She made to grab her book again, but Anthony dodged. Right now, Bella hated that she had to go slow. If she could go at normal speed, she would have had her book already. Instead, she has to chase Anthony around the playground.

Stopping to regroup her thoughts, Bella ran over to Melissa.

"Melissa, that stupid boy Anthony got my book. You have to help me get it!" Bella demanded.

"Excuse me for a minute girls. This won't take too long," Melissa said, walking away. When they were out of ear shot, Melissa turned to Bella.

"Why do you need my help?" Melissa asked.

"Because Mom and Dad gave me a speed limit. And he can run faster than I'm allowed to, so I can't catch him. I don't wanna get in trouble again, so I need help!" Bella explained. Melissa shook her head.

"Why don't you tell the teacher?" Melissa asked.

"And be a tattle-tell? I already get made fun of, I don't wanna make it worse," Bella replied.

"If we were at home, you wouldn't waste anytime telling on Adriana or me," Melissa said. She looked around the playground to see where Anthony is.

"That's different," Bella answered.

"I don't see how, but whatever. I'll go get your book," Melissa said. Bella was about to say something, but Melissa walked away.

"Hey! Booger-eater!" Melissa shouted, walking up to Anthony. His friends David and Logan ran away. Melissa has a reputation on the playground.

"Did you take my sister's book?" Melissa asked. She crossed her arms and stared him down.

"I-I... I was ju-just borrowing it. Here!" Anthony said, giving the book to Melissa.

"That's what I thought. Stay away from my sis, got it?" Melissa threatened. Anthony nodded. Melissa walked away, with Bella's book.

"Here Bells," Melissa said, tossing the book to her.

"Thank you!" Bella said.

"Welcome," Melissa replied.

* * *

**Date: **Saturday, January 25th, 1968 **Time: **Early Evening

**Place**: Jackie Aaron's House

"Come on! They're going to start without us!" Adriana said, rushing to get out of her seat. Melissa, Bella, and Carlisle left the car at a sedated pace. Carlisle grabbed the girl's overnight packs, while Melissa picked up the toys that Adriana dropped in her rush.

"Adriana, it was YOUR fault we're late. You spent, like, 40 minutes picking out your pajamas!" Melissa complained. Adriana shrugged.

"I care about how I look," Adriana said, taking her toys from Melissa's hands.

"I'm going to ignore that," Melissa told her. Bella walked with Carlisle to the door and pressed the doorbell.

"Melissa! Adri! Get your butts over here!" Bella told them. The two girls rushed over to the door, just in time for Ms. Aaron to open it.

"Hi Ms. Aaron! You look well, where are the girls?" Melissa said quickly, even as she run inside toward the loud laughter of young second-graders. Bella and Adriana said similar greetings as the followed her.

"Wow, they're excited. You must be Mr. Cullen," Ms. Aaron said.

"Yes, that's me. I feel the need to warn you, my daughters are a bit... rambunctious," Carlisle said.

"Oh, I'm sure I can handle them. Here, bring those bags in. They must weigh a ton," Ms. Aaron said, ushering him in. Carlisle stepped inside. Just as he set the bags down near the door, a loud crash was heard.

"Wasn't me!" Adriana's voice yelled. Carlisle gave Ms. Aaron a look that screamed I told you so.

"Maybe I spoke too soon," Ms. Aaron conceded.

"Well, I better leave; it's a long drive home. If you have any trouble, don't hesitate to call me. I know how out of hand they can get," Carlisle said, handing Ms. Aaron a piece of paper with his number on it.

"I will. Good night," Ms. Aaron said.

"Good night," Carlisle said, leaving the home.

* * *

**Date: **Saturday, January 25th, 1968 **Time: **Evening

**Place**: Jackie Aaron's House

"Oh come on! It'll be fine," Adriana said.

"Yeah, Emma. You're probably won't even get caught," Alyssa said.

"Do it! Do it! Do it! Do it!" Sammy chanted.

"Fine! I'll do it. But if I get in trouble, I'm taking you all down with me," Emma said, getting up from the floor.

"Just go in there, get the box, and run out. It's that simple. The adults are all downstairs in the living room, so you won't get caught," Melissa explained.

"And don't worry, I'm be the lookout. I'm warn you if they're coming," Bella said.

"Good luck Emma," Cat said.

"The box is on my mom's vanity. You shouldn't have too much trouble getting it," Jackie told her.

"Alright, I'm going," Emma said, walking out the room.

"What are gonna do when she comes back?" Anna asked.

"We play, we have fun, and then one of us returns the box," Melissa said.

"Not it!" Bella said, followed by all the other girls in the room. All except Melissa, who stayed quiet.

"I guess I'm it," Melissa said, just as Emma reentered the room.

"I got it," Emma said, smiling.

"Yay! Now we can play dress up properly," Adriana said, opening the makeup box. All the girls started to take things out of the box.

"I still can't believe you brought dress up clothes. How many outfits did you bring?" Bella asked. She went over to Adriana's bag and looked through it for a while. Then she took out a chef jacket and hat.

"Like ten. The accessories are in your bag, since it was so empty," Adriana told her. Bella shook her head and opened her own bag. Some of the other girls walked over to Adriana's bag and started looking at the outfits.

"In case it wasn't clear, I call chef," Bella said, taking out some wooden spoons and a measuring cup.

"I call doctor," Melissa said, walking to the bag. She took out the white doctor's coat.

"How did you fit so much in there?" Alyssa asked.

"I learned how from the best. So, which outfits do you want? I call princess. That's mine!" Adriana replied.

"How do I look?" Melissa asked Bella, after she put on her doctor jacket and stethoscope. She had a little reflex hammer in the pocket along with a fake syringe and ear scope.

"Like a mini-doctor," Bella answered.

"Do you have a fairy outfit?" Emma asked, looking up from the bag. Adriana nodded.

"What's this?" Alyssa asked, holding up a pink smock.

"That's hairstylist. The blue coat is veterinarian," Melissa told her.

"I wanna be the vet!" Jackie said.

"Here Emma, this is yours," Bella said, handing her a flower wand. Emma had a red fairy dress with sparkly wings in her hands.

"Thanks," Emma said.

"Ruff! I'm a dog," Anna said, putting on dog ears. Cat took out a tutu.

"I guess I'll be a ballerina," Cat said.

"Here doggie. You need your collar," Adriana said. She handed it to Anna.

"Alyssa, you need your comb and hair dryer," Melissa said.

"Here Sammy, you can be the waitress," Emma said, after she put on her fairy outfit.

"Did anyone see my tiara? I can't be a princess without my tiara," Adriana asked.

"Here it is!" Cat said.

"Okay! Does everyone have their outfits?" Melissa asked. Everyone nodded.

"Good. Now we can start," Melissa said.

* * *

**Date: **Saturday, January 25th, 1968 **Time: **Evening

**Place**: Jackie Aaron's House

"Excuse me, Ms. Vet. Can you help me? My dog is sick," Adriana said.

"Woof!" Anna said.

"Come in, come in. Alright doggy, sit here," Jackie said.

"Can you make this fast? I have a hair appointment soon. There's a ball today, and I need to look my best," Adriana told her.

"Don't worry. This won't take too long," Jackie said.

"So Miss. Fairy, what would you like?" Sammy the waitress asked.

"I want the chocolate cake, with ice cream and gummy bears," Emma said. Sammy pretended to write that down.

"Right away Miss," Sammy said, walking toward Bella.

"One number 6 with bears, please," Sammy told her. Bella nodded and got to work.

"Hello Ms. Cat. I'm Melissa, and I'll be your doctor today. How are you feeling?" Melissa asked her.

"Good, but my head feels funny," Cat answered.

"Have you eaten anything weird today?" Melissa asked, putting on her stethoscope.

"No. Nothing," Cat answered.

"What have you done today?" Melissa asked her, using the reflex hammer.

"Practiced my dance. I'm dancing at the Royal Ball today," Cat told her.

"Hmm... I think you're suffering from toomuchdance-itis. You should take a break," Melissa said.

"But I can't!" Cat replied.

"You'll get worse if you don't. Just a little one. Why don't you go next door to the cafe? Talk to someone. Then you can go back to dancing," Melissa said, giving her a piece of paper that says 'needs to relax!'.

"Alright," Cat said.

* * *

**Date: **Saturday, January 25th, 1968 **Time: **Late Evening

**Place**: Jackie Aaron's House

"Is that everything?" Melissa asked. Jackie's mom just left after telling the girls that they had ten minutes until bed time. The girls barely had time to hide the makeup.

"I think so. Hurry and put it back while we clean up," Bella answered.

"Okay, okay. Don't rush me," Melissa replied. She left the room.

"That was fun! We have to do this again," Emma exclaimed.

"Totally!" Anna agreed.

"And soon!" Adriana added.

"Maybe we should have it at your house next time," Alyssa suggested, looking at Bella and Adriana. They both stiffened.

"Uh..." Bella said, freezing up. _'That would not be a good idea.' _Bella thought. But she couldn't come up with a reason to tell them.

"Hey, what are we talking about?" Melissa asked, coming in.

"About our next slumber party. Alyssa said that we should have it at your house," Emma said. Melissa didn't visibly react. Without missing a beat, she replied.

"That's not a good idea. We'd never get away with anything. Our parents are really observant, plus we have seven older siblings. They suck the fun out of everything. Trust me, not a good idea," Melissa told them.

"Oh, I didn't think of that," Alyssa said. Melissa shrugged.

"Anyway, we should finish picking up," Melissa said, grabbing one of the discarded costumes.

"Oh yeah," Adriana said, grabbing a few.

"Good job," Bella whispered to Melissa.

"Thanks," Melissa whispered back.

* * *

**Date: **Friday, March 16th , 1968 **Time: **Afternoon

**Place**: Greenwood Elementary playground

"Hey freak," Sophia said, walking up to Melissa.

"What do you want?" Melissa asked. She was having a peaceful lunch with Anna, Cat, and Sammy. Adriana and Bella were out sick.

"You have no right to talk to me like that," Sophia said.

"I have no right?" Melissa said incredulously.

"Yeah," Sophia responded. Melissa shook her head at her.

"Go away, Sophia. No one wants you here," Melissa told her.

"No one wants you here," Sophia shot back. Melissa smiled and stood up.

"Really? Let's take a vote," Melissa said, "Who wants me here?" Anna, Sammy, and Cat raised their hands.

"That's three for me. Now who wants Sophia here?" Melissa asked. No one raised their hands.

"Guess that settles it," Melissa said. Sophia huffed.

"Whatever. You're still a loser. I bet those clothes aren't even designer like mine," Sophia said. Melissa burst out laughing.

"Like...my... older...sister... would let me!" Melissa manged to say. After a few minutes, Melissa managed to calm down.

"You obviously don't know anything about fashion. Ps. You're mama lied to you, that's not designer," Melissa told her. Sophia finally had enough and walked away.

"Good job Melissa," Anna said. Melissa shrugged.

"Thanks," Melissa said.

"Wanna play jump rope?" Sammy asked.

"Let's go!" Melissa said.

* * *

**Date: **Friday, March 16th, 1968 **Time: **Afternoon

**Place**: Greenwood Elementary playground

_"Miss Suzy had a steam boat, the steam boat had a bell, the steam boat went to heaven, Miss Suzy went to-  
Hello operator, please give me number nine, and if you disconnect me, I'll kick you in your-  
Behind the 'fridgerator, there was a piece of glass, Miss Suzy fell upon it, and cut her little-  
Ask me no more questions, and tell me no more lies, the boys are in the bathroom, zipping up their-  
Flies are in the city, and bees are in the park, Miss Suzy and her boyfriend are kissing in the  
D-A-R-K D-A-R-K Dark, Dark,  
Darker than the ocean,  
Darker than the sea,  
Darker than the underwear  
My mommy puts on me!  
I know you know my mommy,  
I know you know my pa,  
I know you know my sister  
With the 42 inch bra!"_ Anna and Sammy chanted as Melissa and Cat jump-roped. They learned that chant from a couple of fifth graders. But only Melissa gets why the chant is funny, the other girls are too innocent to understand it.

"Wow! You girls are good," Anna said.

"Thanks," Cat said.

"Do you girls want a turn? I don't mind stopping," Melissa told them.

"Sure!" Sammy said. Melissa and Cat stopped jumping.

"Go right ahead," Melissa said, taking the jump rope. Then they started up again.

""Miss Suzy had a steam boat, the steam boat had a bell, the steam boat went to heaven Miss Suzy went to-"

* * *

**Date: **Saturday, March 17th, 1968 **Time: **Late Morning

**Place**: Cullen's House

"Whatcha doing?" Bella asked, walking in. She was wrapped in a blanket, still dressed in her pajamas, and had fuzzy slippers on.

"Nothing really. Now, what are you doing out of bed?" Carlisle asked. He was sitting at his desk, reading the newest Medical journal. You have to stay up to date in the medical field. Bella walked over and sat in his lap.

"I don't know. I couldn't sleep anymore," Bella replied.

"Feel any better from yesterday?" Carlisle asked in a tone that sounded more from a concerned father than a doctor.

"Not really. My head doesn't hurt as much, but I still feel achy. When am I gonna get better?" Bella responded.

"I can't say for sure, but my best guess is in a couple of days," Carlisle told her. Bella groaned and laid her head on Carlisle's chest. Carlisle wrapped his arms around her.

"Do you want anything to eat?" Carlisle asked. Bella shook her head.

"Do you want to talk?" Carlisle asked. Bella shook her head.

"What do you want?" Carlisle asked.

"Tell me a story," Bella said.

"What kind of story?" Carlisle asked.

"I don't know. A made up one? Maybe it'll put me to sleep," Bella mumbled. Carlisle thought for a moment.

"Once there was a princess-" He began.

"No! I'm sick of princesses and princes and kings and why can't cool stuff happen to normal people?" Bella complained.

"Alright, what do you want to hear about?" Carlisle asked. Bella thought about it.

"A teacher? I've never heard a story about a teacher," Bella suggested.

"So, there was once a teacher who lived in-" Carlisle began.

"New Hampshire," Bella said.

"Whose name was-"

"Janet."

"One day, Janet went to work. She had a new student named-"

"Andrew."

"Andrew wasn't a normal child. He had a-"

"Power."

"He had the power of-"

"Shields."

"He could shield himself from anything. Now Janet didn't know this."

"But she will."

"One day-"

"A very bad man visited the school."

"He was looking for Andrew."

"He wanted to use Andrew to do some really bad things."

"Whose telling this story?"

"Just keep going."

* * *

**Date: **Saturday, March 17th, 1968 **Time: **Late Morning

**Place**: Cullen's House

"Why are you carrying Bella?" Richard asked when he saw Carlisle. The teenage vampire was right; he was carrying the young girl who at eight-years-old is a bit too old for that.

"Ask her," Carlisle responded. He dropped the young girl on the couch and entered the kitchen to get her something to eat.

"Why was Carlisle carrying you?" Richard asked. Bella didn't answer, but pointed to the remote. Richard handed it to her.

"Because I'm sick and I wanted to watch TV," Bella replied.

"Where is everyone?" Bella asked, fliping through the channels.

"Esme and Melissa are outside; Alice and Rosalie went shopping; Eric, Jasper, and Edward are upstairs; I'm watching TV with you; Carlisle is in the kitchen; and Adri is still sleeping," Richard answered.

"There's nothing good on TV," Bella said, pausing on some random channel.

"So, you feeling better?" Richard asked.

"Not really. I still feel achy and tired, but my headache isn't as bad," Bella answered.

"Don't worry, I'm sure you and Adriana will get over this soon. Before you know it, you'll be helping Melissa with her new plan. Whatever it is," Richard said.

"She's so lucky she didn't get sick. How does that work?" Bella said.

"Aren't you in different classes? You must have gotten sick from someone in your class," Richard said.

"Great," Bella replied. The two stayed silent and watched TV until Carlisle came into the room to give Bella some toast, orange juice, and an apple. Then he went upstairs to give Adri something.

* * *

**Date: **Tuesday, May 14th, 1968 **Time: **Late Morning

**Place**: Greenwood Elementary Classroom

"I was thinking our story could be about-" Adriana started.

"Shut up Carrot Top," Mia Carson replied. The two were paired up to write a short story.

"Hurtful," Adriana said.

"I don't care. Our story is going to be about me and how awesome I am. Understood?" Mia told her.

"Okay? I guess we can do that. Where should we start the story?" Adriana asked.

"The story should take place in a castle. I can be the really beautiful princess and you can my servant or something," Mia said.

"Fine. Let's just get this over with. The sooner we finish, the sooner I don't have to talk to you," Adriana said, muttering the last part.

"Did you say something?" Mia asked. Adriana swallowed her anger and smiled.

"No. I didn't,"Adriana replied.

* * *

**Date: **Tuesday, May 14th, 1968 **Time: **Late Morning

**Place**: Greenwood Elementary Classroom

"Please turn in your stories," Mr. Barrett said.

"Hurry up Ginger," Mia said. Adriana gritted her teeth.

"One going to asked you nicely one more time. Stop calling me that," Adriana told her. Adriana finished writing the ending to their story. Mia wasn't much help.

"Okay, done. Let's go turn it in,"Adriana said, getting up.

"You turn it in," Mia replied. Adriana was about to hit the bossy, mean girl when Bella intercepted.

"Adri, come on," Bella said. She didn't want Adriana to get in trouble. Melissa did enough of that already.

"I swear, I'm going to kill that girl," Adriana mumbled.

"Adri, just let it go. It's not worth getting in trouble," Bella told her.

"Yeah, yeah. I know," Adriana said. The two turned in their stories.

"I heard Ella came up with a new game. She's going to show it to us at lunch," Bella said. Adriana smiled.

"Yay!"

**AN: And that's it. Did you like it? I might do this more in the future. I might not. I like writing little snapshots of their life. Part two will be up soon. Then I'm moving on to third grade. So tell me what you thought!**


	6. Chapter 5

**Author's Note: Damn it, this took way too long. I'm sorry, but my Internet is out. So I had to wait to post this. On the bright side, I already started the next chapter, so hopefully it should be up on Sunday. Notice I said should be.**

**Something that's been on my mind for a while, I feel like I haven't really...developed my OC's personalities. You know?I'm trying harder now to do that. I have to show distinct personalities. Tell if I did.**

**Thank you for sticking around. You're awesome for that!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight.**

**Chapter Five**

**Adventures in Second Grade: Part 2**

**Third Person POV**

**Date: **Thursday, May 29th , 1968 **Time: **Late Afternoon

**Place: **Brianna Robertson's house

"Get out Jonathan! This room is girls only," Brianna yelled, slamming the door. She and Adriana are hanging out in Brianna's room. Brianna had a large doll collection that Adriana was dying to see. When she laid eyes on it, she thought she died and went to heaven.

"Bri-Bri," Adriana said, using her new nickname for the girl, "Relax. Next time he comes in here, we'll just make him play dolls with us. Then he'll never come back."

"Isn't having a big brother so annoying?" Brianna complained. She threw herself down on the floor with a huff. Adriana calmly looked up from her dolls.

"Most of the time. But you can't let them get to you. That's what they want!" Adriana commented. She put the dolls down, more interested in the conversation then accessorizing her doll.

"Then how do you deal with them," Brianna asked. Adriana shrugged.

"You ignore them, and eventually they go away," Adriana answered.

"I don't think I can do that. So, what are you gonna do over the summer?" Brianna asked. Adriana sat up.

"Well, I'm going to France! As soon as Daddy says yes. So, yeah. I'm already packed and everything. 'Lissa, I think, wants to stay home. I'm not sure. I didn't really ask her. Bells is definitely staying home. She's learning how to play the violin or something, I don't know. And umm... I think that's it," Adriana said.

"Wow. Really France?" Brianna asked.

"Totally. It's going to be so fun! I tell ya, being rich has its upsides. Other then having a bunch of toys," Adriana answered.

"Sounds cool." Brianna replied. She picked up her dolls again.

"Yup! What about you? What are you gonna do?" Adriana asked, getting up to look for just the right dress for her doll.

"Probably stay here. Play with my friends, fight with my brother; nothing special," Brianna told her. Adriana nodded.

"Alright. Hey, did you hear the news around the water fountain?" Adriana asked. She picked up a short blue dress, before throwing it away with disgust. _'Totally clashes with the shoes,'_ Adriana thought.

"No. What?" Brianna said, looking up from her doll.

"Well, rumor has it that we are having an end of the year party! Can you believe it!" Adriana exclaimed. She was excited for the party.

"No way!" Brianna replied.

"Yes, way! Not only that, but we're having it with Ms. Harrison's class. Can you say awesome?" Adriana said.

"Oh my god! Who told you?" Brianna asked. Her doll laid forgotten on the floor.

"You know, a friend of a friend of a friend of a friend of a friend. Like everyone else," Adriana replied. She saw the cutest green dress that was perfect for her doll. Adriana grabbed it.

"I can't believe school is almost over. The year went by so fast," Brianna commented.

"Yeah," Adriana agreed, distracted. She went back to her doll and started dressing it up.

"Adri honey! Your father's here," Brianna's mother yelled. Adriana groaned.

"No! I don't wanna leave," Adriana whined. She threw her doll down and sulked momentarily before jumping up and grabbing her backpack.

"Well, bye! See ya tomorrow," Adriana said, walking out the room. Adriana skipped down the hallway toward the front door. She gave Ms. Robertson a big hug before handing her backpack to Carlisle. The two walked toward the car.

"Hey Daddy, I can I pretty please," Adriana started.

"No, you can not go to France," Carlisle told her. Adriana stomped her foot.

"You are so unfair! I hate you," Adriana yelled, opening the backdoor and climbing in. She crossed her arms and pouted.

"Adri," Carlisle said.

"I'm not talking to you," Adriana snapped.

"Then who are you talking to?" Carlisle shot back. Adriana took a deep breath.

"Myself," Adriana replied. Carlisle started the car and pulled out of the Robertson's driveway. The drive was silent. After a few minutes, Carlisle broke the silence.

"Want ice cream?" Carlisle asked. Adriana was tempted to answer, but stayed quiet.

"Last chance," Carlisle said, as the ice cream shop came into view. Adriana breathed in and tried to stay strong.

"Oh, screw it. I want cookie dough with caramel and whipped cream and a banana and nuts and uhh... cherries! Lots of cherries. And I mean lots," Adriana blurted out. She was a little upset that her daddy was able to get her to break so easily, but then again, ice cream. Who can resist ice cream?

"Got it," Carlisle said. After Carlisle parked the car, Adriana started to tell him all about her day.

* * *

**Date: **Friday, May 30th , 1968 **Time: **Late Morning

**Place: **Greenwood Elementary School

"So, what's the longest word you know?" asked Alyssa. She and Bella were sitting near Bella's desk. The two second grade classes were having am end of the year party. Adriana was running around the room like she was on a sugar rush(which she probably is). Melissa is with Anna and Jasmine, fighting with Austin on whether a girl can play baseball.

"It's a really long word," Bella replied. Alyssa and Bella were eating snacks that the teachers provided, just talking. With Adriana too excited to notice her and Melissa too busy, Bella was able to get away with not actively participating in the party. While she enjoyed parties with her family, a room filled with yelling, hyper children made her feel overwhelmed.

"What does it mean?" Alyssa asked her. Alyssa didn't feel like dealing with anyone. It's was one of those days.

"It means the fear of big words," Bella answered. Bella took a bite of her cookie. '_Good thing about being a quiet child, teachers don't notice when you take more than your fair share,' _Bella thought.

"Now you have to tell me!" Alyssa exclaimed.

"Hippopotomonstrosesquipedali ophobia," Bella announced, pronouncing each syllable carefully. Technically, that isn't the longest word she knows, but she has trouble saying Pneumonoultramicroscopicsili covolcanoconiosis. Doesn't matter how many times Carlisle repeats it, Bella just can not pronounce that word. It's too hard!

"Wow. That's long. How do you remember it?" Alyssa asked.

"I heard this song, called The Long Word Song. I listened to it on repeat like a million times, and now I can say it!" Bella answered. She loves that song, along with the Colors Song.

"Doesn't matter how good that song is, no way would I ever remember that word," Alyssa said. Bella shrugged and changed the subject.

"Want to get some more cookies?" Bella asked, chewing the last of the cookies. No one cares about manners at school.

"No way could we get more," Alyssa said. Bella merely raise an eyebrow.

"Wanna bet?" Bella asked. Alyssa nodded confidently.

"I bet you half of the candy you have in your backpack that I can get more cookies," Bella stated, reaching out her hand. Alyssa shook her hand. Bella got up from her seat and walked toward the table. Staying behind Ms. Harrison, the teachers never notice her. Bella waited for one of the student to cry or yell, before quickly grabbing cookies and running back to her seat. She managed to get to the desk before the teachers notice anything was missing.

"Told ya," Bella bragged. She handed Alyssa two cookies before sitting down.

"You don't have to pay me now. You can give me the candy later," Bella assured her. The two ate their cookies in peace.

"Do you like, ever stop eating?" Morgan asked. Bella didn't acknowledge her.

"Seriously, you are so fat. I don't see why anyone would want to be your friend. Come on Alyssa, hang out with the cool kids," Morgan said. Bella rolled her eyes.

"I already am," Alyssa replied.

"Whatever. Continue being a loser," Morgan said, walking away. Bella shook her head.

"Think she'll ever stop?" Bella asked.

"No. She was like this in kindergarten," Alyssa answered.

"Awesome," Bella said sarcastically. Before Alyssa could reply, Adriana bounced(yes, bounced) her way to them.

"Bells! What ARE you doing? This is a party. You can talk at home. Get up!" Adriana demanded, pulling Bella up by the arm. Adriana looked at Alyssa, who quickly got out of her seat. _'Smart girl,'_ Bella thought.

"Come on! Dance time," Adriana said. She dragged Bella across the room.

"Help me!" Bella yelled. But no one heard her.

* * *

**Date: **Tuesday, June 3rd , 1968 **Time: **Early Evening

**Place: **Cullen House

"Why not!" Adriana yelled. Bella shook her head. She was trying to learn how to play the violin(the piano is so last month). And since Edward refuse to help her, she's on her own. Adriana whining about being trapped in this house and unloved is totally distracting her. Ignoring Adriana's stupid rant, Bella went back to her instrument. She was determined to learn how to play Bumblebee. It sounds so cool!

"You sure you don't want to switch back to the piano?" Edward asked, surprising Bella. She did not hear him come in.

"Eddie! For the last time, no. I'm not going back," Bella said. _'Not this again,' _Bella thought.

"Fine. I actually came up here to tell you that I'm going out to buy new music. You wanna come?" Edward asked. _'Why not? I'm not making any progress. I need to get a teacher,' _Bella thought. She nodded and jumped down to the floor. After checking to make sure she didn't look like a slob, Bella left the room with Edward.

"I hate you!" Adriana yelled as the two came down the stairs. She's still throwing a fit. _'Why doesn't she give up yet?' _Bella thought.

"Adri-" Esme started.

"Why can't I go! Why? You are so unfair! I hate you!" Adriana yelled. _'Seriously, chill out sis. You're not helping your case,' _Bella thought. Bella stopped to watch.

"Honey, you're just not mature enough to go," Esme told her. Adriana made a sound. It's a cross between a cat being throw into a pool and nails scratching a chalkboard.

"Adriana! Give it up," Melissa yelled. She was enjoying watching Adriana, but now it's just getting pathetic.

"Adriana, quiet!" Carlisle shouted. _'Whoa, I don't think I've ever heard Dad yell like that. She's in so much trouble!' _Bella froze.

"Since you refuse to let it go, how about a deal? If you are on your best behavior for the next year, next summer you can go wherever you want. But this means no whining, no fighting in school, and no breaking anything. Understood?" Carlisle said._'That's just a longer way to say no. No way can Adriana do that,' _Bella thought.

"For an entire year?" Adriana asked. She looks like someone killed her puppy.

"An entire year," Carlisle repeated. Adriana slowly nodded.

"Okay. I can try," Adriana replied. She turned around and left the room. '_Never a dull day,' _Bella thought. She turned to Edward.

"Do you think she's gonna make it?" Bella asked.

"Nope," Edward answered. The two left the room.

* * *

**Date: **Saturday, July 4th , 1968 **Time: **Evening

**Place**: Greenwood Park

"When are the fireworks starting?" Adriana asked for the hundredth time(literally).

"Soon, Adri," Alice answered.

"How soon is soon?" Adriana asked. Alice choose not to answer. Adriana sat back down on the grass. Most of the family came out to the local park to see the fireworks. Carlisle and Esme were sitting on the grass, talking about something that Adriana decided was boring. Jasper was sitting with Alice. Rosalie and Emmett decided not to come. Richard stayed home. Bella was reading. Edward left to get cotton candy for the girls, and Eric was with Melissa, messing with the humans.

_'I'm bored!' _Adriana thought. She wanted to say it out loud, but that might be considered whining. Adriana laid back down and looked up at the sky. The stars were out. Adriana started playing connect the dots. _'Connect that one with that one, and you get a unicorn. Or, I guess I could connect it with those over there and get an upside down monkey. So many choices,' _Adriana thought.

"Hey Bells?" Adriana called. Bella looked up. Adriana pointed up to the sky.

"See those stars there? Don't they look like an alligator wearing a fur coat eating a lollipop?" Adriana asked. Bella looked up at the sky.

"Looks more like a crocodile to me," Bella answered. Adriana scoffed.

"That's ridiculous," Adriana said. Bella shrugged and went back to her book. Adriana sighed.

_'Bored, bored, bored. So bored," _Adriana thought. A low whistle caught her attention. Adriana manged to look up in time to see a brilliant explosion of green.

"Finally!" Adriana exclaimed. She's been waiting for like twenty minutes. Greenwood might be small, but the fireworks show wasn't. Green, blue, purple, then green again. Adriana loved the fireworks. _'Loud and pretty, my kind of thing. Why can't we have fireworks every night?' _Adriana wondered.

She enjoyed the fireworks show for about another fifteen minutes. When it was over, Adriana frowned.

_'It's over already?' _Adriana thought.

* * *

**Date: **Saturday, July 4th , 1968 **Time: **Evening

**Place:** Greenwood Park

"Wow, I thought Alice was gonna smack her," Melissa said. Eric(with brown hair and a 30-year-old body) nodded.

"Doesn't that count as whining?" Eric asked. The two were taking a break, searching for their next victim. Melissa was wearing a blonde wig she brought. Can't have people recognizing her.

"No. It's annoying, but not whining. Hey, what about the couple over there?" Melissa asked. She pointed to a young, 20 something couple. From the conversation, the non-humans could tell they were only visiting. Perfect.

"Good eye," Eric commented. Melissa shrugged and thanked him.

"So, what's the plan? Or are we just gonna improvise?" asked Melissa. She was excited. Humans had the most hilarious reactions.

"I say improvise. I think better on my feet," Eric decided. Melissa conceded to that. Eric changed his looks again, to avoid being seen by any of the people they already pranked. They walked to a spot a little away from the couple, but near enough for them to hear every word.

"Why did you do it?" Melissa asked curiously. The question was innocent, like asking why the sky was blue. Eric looked at her with a blank expression.

"She was going to squeal. I had no choice," Eric replied calmly. It was matter of fact, like stating that grass is green. The two pretended not to notice the couple's attention as they looked out to the forest. But in the corner of their eyes, they can see them.

"Would you do that to me?" Melissa asked innocently. She looked up at Eric with wide blue eyes. She was smiling, like she knew the answer and just want him to say it.

"Depends, would you tell?" Eric responded. The question was neutral, revealing no emotion. He looked down at her, with a look of disinterest.

"Never," Melissa stated with an adamant shake of her head. Eric smiled slowly at her actions. He messed with her hair, in an atta-girl way.

"Then why would I get rid of my alibi?" Eric replied to her. Melissa hugged Eric's waist. She looked up to him.

"Aw, you know you love me! So, when we gonna have fun again?" Melissa asked, perfectly chipper. Eric chuckled.

"I don't know. Maybe tonight? I heard there's a new couple in town," Eric suggested. Melissa stepped back, and clapped excitedly. She looked like a kid in a candy shop.

"Do you think they have a child I can play with? It be nice to have a playmate again. I have the best new game I wanna try out. It's just like your game! But with less of a mess," Melissa said. She smiled and swung her arms around. The couple started to back away, not wanting to attract attention.

"I guess we'll find out," Eric said, grabbing Melissa's hand and dragging her away. Melissa giggled and skipped by his side. When they were a safe distance away, the two broke out laughing.

"Do you see their faces? They are so freaked out!" Melissa whispered. No need to grab attention now.

"It's not like we said anything that bad. It was all perfectly innocent," Eric stated.

"Humans jump to the wrong conclusions. What are you going to do?" Melissa asked. The two continued to watch the couple started to pack up their stuff and leave.

"Should we feel bad?" Melissa asked. She did a little.

"Na. This firework show is lame anyway. They aren't missing out on anything," Eric responded. Melissa shrugged.

"They didn't need to leave. If a killer was after them, going home early wouldn't change that. I hope they get some sleep," Melissa said.

"They'll be fine. If you don't believe me, ask Alice," Eric replied. Melissa looked over at the family. Alice was giving her a thumbs up. That made her feel better.

"Good. But maybe we should lay off the killer stuff. We should go back to drug addiction," Melissa said.

"Fine with me. I just saw our new targets," Eric said.

* * *

**Date: **Saturday, July 4th , 1968 **Time: **Evening

**Place:** Greenwood Park

Richard was enjoying his time alone. There was a slasher movie marathon(Esme hasn't let him see them since Adriana started having nightmares)(Richard swears she's faking). And Richard got revenge on Adriana.

_'Shouldn't have messed with me,' _Richard thought, sitting back on the couch. Yes, he realized that getting revenge on an eight-year-old was pathetic. His defense, she was 30 something. That was not sad.

Besides, she deserved it. _'You can't set a train car on fire and not know how you did it. Little liar,' _Richard thought. He set that aside and focused on all the fake blood on the screen. _'Ah, horror movies_._'_

**AN: And that's it! Did you like it? I hope so. I think I did a good job.**

**Here's something I haven't asked in a while, and the reason I'm bring it up is that I have been thinking about the chapters where I reveal them. What do you think the girls' powers are? I mean, I can't tell you it you're right or wrong, but I'm curious. Tell me! Come on, give me a guess.**

**Love you all! Thanks for reading. Review!**


	7. Chapter 6

**Author's Note: Here it is, right on time. Yay! You know, I really like this style of writing. Giving little snapshots throughout the year. It gives you a good feel for what goes on in their lives. And it's more fun to write! Anyway, enjoy!**

**Chapter Six**

**Adventures in Third Grade: Part 1**

**Third Person POV**

**Date: **Friday, August 19th, 1968** Time: **(Really) Early Morning/(Really) Late Evening

**Place:** Cullen House

"You're a really bad babysitter," Adriana told Richard, as she reached for another handful of popcorn. She sat sitting cross-legged on the floor in hot pink shorts and a yellow t-shirt. Her curly red hair was brushed into a low ponytail and her face was covered with butter and chocolate stains.

"This is our secret, got it?" Richard asked. Adriana shrugged, not that Richard saw it. He was focused on the TV. Adriana continued to throw popcorn into the air to see if she could catch them. She missed a lot.

"If Mom finds out, I'm squealing like a pig. I'm not gonna get in trouble," Adriana answered. The family left to hunt, leaving Richard to watch the girls. And, as any irresponsible teenager, Richard was letting them do whatever they want.

"Feeling the love, sis. Feeling the love," Richard answered. He wasn't really hurt; he expected that from her. Adriana threw a handful of popcorn at him.

"Damn! Could you imagine that happening to you?" Adriana exclaimed. Humans can be violent. She was loving this movie!

"Nope. Nor do I want to," Richard replied. They heard a crash from upstairs. Neither bothered to turn.

"Not it!" Richard and Adriana cried out, right before Bella.

"Damn it! I am not cleaning that up; I didn't even do it," they heard Melissa say from the far side of the house. From the sound of it, Richard guessed she was in Rosalie's room. Probably searching through her stuff.

"Too bad! You should have responded faster," Bella said. She came running down the stairs, in her fuzzy slippers and and green pajama set.

"If anyone asks, the vase broke itself," Bella said quickly, running into the kitchen to grab the broom and dust pan. Richard and Adriana nodded, still staring at the screen. Bella ran up the stairs, taking two at a time, which resulted in her almost face-planting on the top. Bella managed to catch herself before she fell, then shook it off and continued on her way.

"Richard! I cut myself," Melissa yelled, looking down at him from upstairs. Richard didn't turn around.

"Liar, you skin's too thick," Richard replied. Melissa groaned. She really didn't want to clean.

"Will you just come up here!" Melissa shouted. Richard didn't respond.

"I hate you," Melissa muttered, swiftly turning around and stomping away. Richard continued to ignore her.

"She's gonna get you back for that," Adriana told him.

"Worth it," Richard responded. The two went back to watching the movie. When the movie paused for a commercial break, Richard turned to Adriana.

"Why do you keep pretending to have nightmares?" Richard asked. It was bothering him that he needed to sneak around to watch horror movies. A man shouldn't have to sneak around to watch anything in his own house.

"Because I'm a little girl. Little girls are supposed to have nightmares when they see scary things. And as long as mommy sees me as a little girl, I can get away with things," Adriana explained. Richard understood that; Esme was a lot easier on the girls then Carlisle.

"Smart. You're not as ditsy as I thought," Richard replied. Adriana smiled her bright and wide smile.

"Thank you," Adriana said, cheerfully. She ignore the subtle insult.

"Oh, the movie's back,"Adriana stated. She and Richard returned to watching the movie.

* * *

**Date: **Saturday, August 20th, 1968** Time: **Afternoon

**Place:** Cullen House

"Mommy!" Adriana cried as she ran up to Esme, while dressed in blue jeans and a violet long-sleeved shirt. The hyper redhead was happy to see her mom, even if Richard was a much more fun babysitter.

"Hey, honey. How was your time with Richard?" Esme asked, getting straight to the point. Esme was worried sick about her girls. Adriana smiled at her.

"It was fun. You should put him in charge more often," Adriana said. Esme nodded, as if to say '...okay...' and then she moved on to see her other daughters. Bella, dressed in white shorts and a blue camisole, got up from the table and hugged her. Melissa waved from her seat behind her plate.

"Where's everyone else?" Bella asked, stepping back. She went back to the the table.

"I came back early. I missed you all too much," Esme answered. Melissa didn't believe it.

"You thought Richard would have burned down the house by now, didn't you?" Melissa asked. Esme looked ashamed.

"Yes, yes I did," she admitted. Esme looked around the house, looking for any signs of a mess in the spotless house. Melissa shrugged nonchalantly.

"Well, he didn't," Melissa replied, gesturing around the room. Esme looked around again, before nodding. Esme couldn't see anything wrong with the house.

"Where is he?" Esme asked, noticing that Richard wasn't anywhere near. Richard choose that moment to leave his room and enter the kitchen.

"Right here, mom. See, I can be left home alone," Richard told her. He has been left home alone with the girls a total of two times(including this one).

"Alright, alright. I was wrong. I should have had more faith in you," Esme admitted. She was surprised; she thought he would have let the girls run wild and mess up the house. Or worse.

"Yes, you should have," Richard replied. Esme left the room to go upstairs and wash up. Richard high fived the girls, then handed Melissa a bag of chocolate. It was consolation for cleaning up the house last night. Took her three hours to make the house impeccable.

"Hey, where's my vase?" Esme asked from upstairs.

"We don't know," The four answered simultaneously and without hesitation.

* * *

**Date: **Sunday, August 21st, 1968** Time: **Sunset

**Place:** Cullen House

"But why?" Adriana asked, clearly upset as she entered Alice's, trailing behind Alice. Her sisters went back to school shopping with Rosalie(and a reluctant Emmett), the parents went on on a date, Edward disappeared somewhere, Richard was in his room, and Eric was watching TV with Jasper.

"Honey, you're too young to come. This is only for 18 and up," Alice replied. A new movie came out that Adriana was dying to see, but it was rated R. And she aren't allowed to watch rated R movies(although she's seen dozens of them with Richard, Jasper, and Eric)(don't tell anyone!).

"But, but!" Adriana said, but she didn't finish her sentence. She could see that Alice made up her mind, so instead Adriana stormed down the stairs. She was mad. Angry. '_For God's sake, I am thirty! I might be stuck in an eight-year-old's body, but I am not eight! Most of the time. Some of the time. Shut up!' _Adriana thought. She fought the urge to kick a hole in the wall.

Adriana started seeing red as her reached the downstairs hallway. She wanted to break something, to destroy the nearest thing. Adriana bite back a growl, clenched her fists, then unclenched. '_You can't break anything. You can't break anything...Maybe no one will notice,' _Adriana thought as she grabbed the clay figurine on the table that Melissa made. Adriana briefly hoped Melissa would forgive her.

But right before she could shatter the figurine, an extremely strong tidal wave of calm and peace crashed on top of her, making her loosen her grip. Adriana let herself get swept up before shaking it off and setting the figurine back on the table. She sent a wave of gratitude to Jasper for bringing her down. Adriana took a deep breath and walked away from the table.

She entered the living room and sat down next to Jasper. Adriana quietly watched the TV until Jasper handed her a paper.

'Don't worry, I'll sneak you in later this week. Don't tell anyone,' the note said. Adriana smiled. You can always count on your brothers.

* * *

**Date: **Sunday, August 21st, 1968** Time: **Evening

**Place: **Cullen House

Upstairs, three little girls were having fun in their room. The room was in shambles, with articles of clothing everywhere. Melissa was jumping on her bed, burning off all the excess energy she got from dipping into her candy supplies. Bella was in the bathroom, washing up for bed.

"Hey! Over here," Melissa said, jumping up to catch the teddy bear Adriana threw. Bella walked into the room, after brushing her teeth. Adriana skipped around the room, playing a game that no one really understood(not even Adriana herself). Melissa threw the teddy bear back to Adriana and apparently scored five points.

"Five minutes girls!" Carlisle said from downstairs. Melissa stopped jumping and stood on her bed, looking for her pajamas. She spotted her pajama top hanging from the ceiling fan. She jumped up and grabbed it. Adriana continued to mess around the room, while Bella brushed her hair.

"Adri, did you see my shorts?" Melissa asked, laying upside down off the edge of the bed.

"Did you check under your bed?" Adriana asked. Melissa nodded. Adriana thought for a moment.

"Did you check under my bed?" Adriana asked. Melissa shook her head, before rolling off her bed and peeking under Adriana's bed. Sure enough, there it was. She grabbed it and went into the bathroom to change.

"Adri, did you brush your teeth?" Bella asked, climbing into her bed. She covered herself with her blanket and made sure she had all her toys.

"Yes," Adriana said, shaking her head no. Bella rolled her eyes, but didn't say anything. Adriana smiled at her quiet sister and climbed into her own bed, snuggling into the comforter. She knocked over two of her stuffed toys in the process.

"That's better," Melissa said as she entered the room, dressed in her pajamas with ketchup stains. She walked over to the vanity, picked up her hairbrush, gathered her hair into a ponytail, then climbed into her bed.

"I can't believe school is starting tomorrow. This summer has gone by way too fast," Adriana stated, lying on her forearms. Melissa shrugged and sat back against her pillows.

"Hey, you're just that much closer to next year. Do you think you'll actually make it?"Melissa asked.

"Hopefully. I really want to go to Europe," Adriana answered. Their conversation was cut short by Edward knocking at the door. He opened the door and peeked inside.

"Light's out, girls," Edward said, switching the lights off. The girls said good night to each other and settled down for bed.

* * *

**Date: **Monday, August 22nd, 1968** Time:** Morning

**Place:** Cullen House

"No, I don't wanna wake up!" Adriana slurred, half-asleep and stubbornly holding onto the sheets of her bed. Rosalie tried again to get the redhead out of bed(without using force), but all Adriana did was kick.

"Adri, get up. It's the first day of school," Rosalie said, her patience wearing thin. She had never dealt with the girls during school mornings before. But since she graduated last year(with Jasper and Emmett), she decided to help. Big mistake. Very big mistake.

So far, Bella has flooded the bathroom(she left the facet running), thrown maple syrup on the wall(she and Melissa were fighting), and was currently hiding to avoid putting on her uniform(the school put in a new dress code and Bella doesn't like it).

But Bella wasn't the only one causing problems. Melissa has dropped two glasses of milk(she doesn't even drink milk in the morning), lost her shoes, and somehow got gum in her hair. Lastly, Rosalie has woken up Adriana twenty times, and twenty times Adriana has managed to get back into bed. Rosalie grabbed Adriana and carried her out of bed. She carried her to the closet to get her changed.

"Why do I have to go to school?" Adriana asked, lifting her arms so Rosalie could get her shirt off. Esme was downstairs cutting the gum out of Melissa's hair. Rosalie asked Emmett to find Bella so she could get her dressed.

"Because, you do," Rosalie answered, handing Adriana her shirt. She put it on, then realized it was backward, took it off, then put it back on.

"That's a stupid reason," Adriana said, changing out of her shorts into a khaki skirt. When she finished, Rosalie grabbed a hairbrush to straighten out the bird's nest that is Adriana's hair.

"Found her," Emmett said, carrying Bella inside. Bella waved at Rosalie from her position above the ground.

"Set her down," Rosalie replied, clipping Adriana's hair back. Adriana jumped onto her feet and left the room(handing Bella something as she passed). Bella put her hands into her pockets and walks over to her bed, where her outfit is laid out.

"Enjoying the first day of school so far?" Bella asked.

"I should have left for college," Rosalie replied. Bella shrugged and changed out of her pajamas.

* * *

**Date: **Monday, August 22nd, 1968** Time:** Morning

**Place:** Greenwood Elementary School

"Cat! Hey, Cat! Over here. LOOK over here! CAT!" Adriana yelled, after she got out of the car. She wasn't even on school ground yet. Cat looked over and waved at Adriana. That was all Adriana needed to abandon her sisters. Bella and Melissa(with her hair in a ponytail) climbed out of the car and waved Esme goodbye.

"Wow. I wish she wasn't in my class this year," Melissa said, fixing her socks that fell. When she straightened up, she looked around the playground.

"Anna! Emma! Hey," Melissa said, waving to get their attention. She and Bella walked over to the stairs to talk to them.

"Tell me you have Mrs. Zelton," Melissa said desperately. Anna nodded, but Emma said no. Melissa hugged Anna tightly and squealed.

"Get ready, Anna, Adri is in our class," Melissa warned her. Anna shivered in horror. The two left to go find Kayla, who was also in their class(she told Melissa at their last play date). That left Bella and Emma alone

"Ms. Heather?" Bella asked Emma. The two started to walk up the stairs.

"Yeah, you too?" Emma replied. Bella nodded and readjusted her book bag.

"So, who else is in our class?" Bella asked, turning to Emma. Emma thought for a second.

"I think Sammy and Alyssa are in our class," Emma said.

"Oh, good. I like them," Bella said. The two walked by Olivia, Mia, and Sophia, the resident mean girls. Of course, the three girls giggled and whispered as Bella and Emma walked by. Bella could hear every immature comment made by them, but choose to ignore them.

"Are any of them in our class?" Bella asked, after the got out of (human) ear shot.

"I really hope not. Those girls are mean," Emma answered, looking back to see Mia trip someone.

"I know, right. What crawled up their skirt?" Bella replied, not looking back, but hearing someone fall and blame Mia.

"Hey, do you have any idea where our class is?" Emma asked, looking around. She wasn't too sure where the new third grade classrooms were located.

"None, let's go find it," Bella said, starting their search.

* * *

**Date: **Tuesday, August 23rd, 1968** Time:** Late Afternoon

**Place:** Cullen House

"Not too short," Melissa said, trying to get her mind off the fact that Alice was cutting her hair at an alarming rate. Melissa took pride in her long, shiny hair. But since she got gum in it yesterday and Esme had to cut out a chunk of it, well, you can't walk around with your hair like that. Although, she did managed to put it off one day.

"Relax, you're going to love it," Alice assured her. Melissa took a deep breath, but didn't feel any better.

"How can I love it when it looks like your cutting off all my hair?" Melissa asked. _'Stupid gum,' _Melissa thought bitterly. She was turned away from the mirror, so she couldn't see how short her hair is now. Alice finished cutting her hair and then dried it.

"There, all done," Alice said. She turned her chair around, but Melissa shut her eyes closed. She was scared. She cracked one eye open.

"Oh my God, it looks awesome. I love it," Melissa said, in disbelief. Her hair was short, a little shorter than shoulder length, and had bangs. It framed her face nicely.

"Don't sound so surprised," Alice said, putting away her scissors.

"But I am surprised. I thought I was going to hate it, and by extend, you," Melissa replied. She shook her head and watched her hair move with her.

"You wouldn't have really hated me, would you?" Alice asked, taking the apron off Melissa. Melissa stood up and shrugged.

"I don't know, maybe. But that's not the point," Melissa answered. She continued to look at herself in the mirror for five more minutes before going downstairs to show everyone.

"Hey everyone! Look at how awesome I look," Melissa yelled. Alice finished putting away her stuff, before going downstairs.

"Melissa, I think you forgot something. Your manners," Alice said. _'Didn't even say thank you.' _

* * *

**Date: **Tuesday, September 20th, 1968** Time:** Morning

**Place:** Greenwood Elementary School

"Hey, Bella?" Brandon Caldwell asked, walking up to Bella's desk. It wasn't much of a trip, since he sits to desks in front of her.

"Yeah?" Bella asked, confused. While he was a friend of hers, they never really talked outside of the occasional kickball game.

"Want to be my partner for math? You better at math then anyone here," Brandon asked. _'Finally, a guy admits I'm good at math,' _Bella thought, _'Eh, why not?' _

"Sure, Brandon. Sit down, we have a lot of problems to do," Bella said, pointing to the chair in front of her. The rest of the class broke up into pairs, until one person was left out: Emma. So, Brandon and Bella decided to let her into their group.

"Thanks, I thought I was going to have to work on my own," Emma said. Math wasn't her strong suit. Science was, then writing.

"What are friends for?" Bella asked. The three started working on their worksheet.

"Ugh! This is so hard. Why do we even need math?" Brandon asked. Emma wholeheartedly agreed with him.

"It's not that hard. What number are you on?" Bella asked. Brandon held up three fingers. Bella mouthed 'wow' before helping him.

"Okay, so it's 155+210. So, what you do is put one number above the other," Bella said, showing Brandon the step.

"Then, you add the ones. You know what 5+0 is right?" Bella asked.

"Of course, I'm not stupid," Brandon answered. He wrote down 5 in the ones place.

"Then you add the tens. So that's 5+1," Bella said. Brandon wrote down 6 in the tens place.

"Lastly, you add the hundreds. That's 1+2," Bella said. Brandon wrote down 3.

"And now you have the answer, 365," Bella finished.

"I guess it wasn't that hard," Brandon said.

"Hey Bella, is this right?" Emma asked, showing Bella her worksheet. Bella shook her head.

"You didn't carry over numbers, did you?" Bella asked. Emma shook her head. Bella sighed and showed her how to do it.

"What number are you on?" Brandon asked, after Bella finished explaining.

"Number 21, only nine more to go," Bella answered.

"Wow, you're fast. You should be, like, in fourth grade," Emma said. Bella shrugged. The three continued to work on their worksheets.

"Hey Bella," Emma said, after she finished number 19. Bella finished minutes ago and was now looking over their work.

"Yeah," Bella replied, looking up from Brandon's paper.

"Have you seen my doll? I haven't seen it since your birthday party," Emma asked. Bella thought about it.

"I don't know where it is, but you should ask Adri. If anyone knows where it is, it's her," Bella answered.

"Okay, I'll ask at lunch," Emma replied.

* * *

**Date: **Tuesday, September 20th, 1968** Time:** Early Afternoon

**Place:** Greenwood Elementary School

"Line up! We're picking teams," Melissa yelled, hold a red ball on her hands. They're playing dodge ball. Everyone who wanted to play lined up in front of her. This included Adriana, Christian, Rachel, Brianna, Kayla, Andrew, Jasmine, Alyssa, David, and many more.

"Who wants to be team captain with me?" Melissa asked. All the boys raised their hands. Melissa looked around before picking Jonathan.

"Okay, you pick first," Melissa said, being polite. Johnathan looked around.

"David," he picked. _'A boy, why am I not surprised?' _Melissa thought.

"Adriana, of course," Melissa said. _'If I don't pick her first, I'll never hear the end of it,' _Melissa two continued to pick. The teams were: Melissa, Adriana, Kayla, Jasmine, Josh, Danny, Zack, Brianna and Alyssa; and Jonathan, David, Christian, Andrew, Jason, Tyler, James, Rachel, and Ella.

"Alright, we can start now. The rules are simple, you get hit with a ball, you're out. It doesn't count if the ball hits the floor. If you catch the ball, the thrower is out. Last team standing wins. Now, take your sides while I set up the balls," Melissa explained, setting her ball between the two teams. She went and got two more balls, then set them down too. She joined her team.

"Alright, ready, set... Go!" Melissa yelled. The two team ran for the balls. Melissa stayed behind and watched. Kayla got one ball, Jason got another, and Alyssa has the last one. Kayla threw the ball at Christian, who dodged. Jason threw the ball at Brianna, who was saved by Adriana catching the ball. Jason huffed and sat at the sidelines.

"Way to go, Adri!" Josh cheered. Adriana smiled and bowed, before facing the other team. She threw the ball at David and missed.

"See, that's why girls shouldn't play sports," David said. Adriana took a step forward, but was stopped by Melissa, who said it wasn't worth it. Alyssa threw the ball at Tyler, who dodged, but fell and ate dirt.

"Almost!" James exclaimed, after missing Zack by a foot. Jasmine picked up the ball and threw it at Christian, who ducked before it hit him.

"Hey, no fair. I wasn't looking," Kayla yelled, after she got hit by Andrew. He shrugged in response and continued playing.

Soon, it was Danny and Adri against David. David caught the ball, and then it was Adri and Danny.

"You might as well give up, you'll never win," David said, holding the ball in his hands. Melissa took away the other two when it became three against three.

"Oh, please. I could beat you with both eyes closed," Adriana stated.

"No you can't. You're a girl, and everyone knows that boys are better than girls," David replied.

"Adri, I swear that if you lose, I will burn every single one of your dolls," Melissa threatened, still bitter that he managed to get her out when she was helping Alyssa get up.

"Don't worry, I won't," Adriana replied. David threw the ball, and Adriana calmly caught it.

"You cheated!" David yelled. Adriana didn't bother to acknowledge that comment, instead opted to join the rest of her team in bragging about their win.

"Maybe next time," Melissa told him.

* * *

**Date: **Wednesday, October 17th, 1968** Time:** Afternoon

**Place:** Greenwood Elementary School

"I'm just saying, it's weird," Melissa defended. Bella huffed and ignored her. School just let out, but Rosalie(it was her turn) wasn't here yet.

"Bella, you have admit, it's weird. Edward has never spent any time alone with Adri or me away from the house, but has, like a billion times, with you. Obviously something is going on, " Melissa said. Bella rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, he likes me way more than you. In fact, he even told me I was his favorite," Bella replied. Melissa looked indignant and crossed her arms.

"What! He TOLD you. You never say that. I mean, it's okay to have a favorite, but you are NEVER suppose to say who it is," Melissa said. Bella jumped back at the volume of her words.

"Oh, he is going to pay for this. I swear, I will get him for this," Melissa said.

"He didn't do anything to you," Bella said slowly, trying to see her train of thought.

"Yes he did. He hurt my feelings," Melissa replied. Bella was just more confused.

"How?" Bella asked.

"By saying I wasn't his favorite, indirectly. I mean, yeah I knew I wasn't. Anyone with a brain can see that. But still, it hurts," Melissa answered, pouting.

"Just don't go overboard. He doesn't even know you're mad at him," Bella replied, knowing nothing(short of a miracle) could change her mind. Melissa nodded at her words.

"There she is! Rosalie and I are going to have a talk about this. She needs to learn to be on time," Adriana said, getting up.

**An: Well, I think this was my longest chapter yet. How awesome. Did you like it? **

**Noticed this while writing the last chapter, I haven't really written a lot with Eric and Richard. I mean, they're there, but they haven't really done a lot. I have to change that. I know how you feel about the girls, but what them? Do you like them? Should I have Richard babysit more often? Do you want to see what happens when Eric is in charge? Something else? Tell me! I'm open to suggestion.**

**P.s. If you have a good idea for a prank or trick or anything you want to share, feel free to PM me. **


	8. Chapter 7

**Author's Note: Anyone who can guess who Adriana is dressed as gets a shout out next chapter! And I feel so sorry for my sister, raising three kids. Man, I don't know how she does it. They're here for an hour, and I want them to leave. **

**On another note, next chapter is one of three where the girls powers are revealed. Except this one's for Bella and her power(half of it) is already revealed on my profile. So, it doesn't really count. And yet, it does.**

**Anyway, enjoy!**

**Chapter Six**

**Adventures in Third Grade: Part 2**

**Third Person POV**

**Date: **Thursday, October 29th, 1968** Time:** Late Morning

**Place:** Greenwood Elementary School

"Get out of my way, girl," David spat, saying the word girl like it left a bad taste in his mouth. He pushed Bella aside, which normally wouldn't bother her. But Bella wasn't paying attention and the push made her lose her balance, which sent her project tumbling to the floor.

"Ms. Heather! David made me drop my project; it's ruined now," Bella exclaimed. She worked really hard on it, and now that stupid boy ruined it. _'Stupid boys. I hate them, I hate all of them,' _Bella thought bitterly.

"David apologize," Ms. Heather demanded. David looked indignant at the request. He crossed his arms and turned to face Bella. Bella stood there glaring at David, wishing she had heat vision like superman so she could blow him up.

"I'm sorry." His words were dripping with sarcasm. Bella didn't look pleased and neither did Ms. Heather.

"Like you mean it," Ms. Heather said, losing patient with David. This is the fourth time TODAY that he has picked on Bella. She was getting sick of it and calling his parents doesn't seem to work. Neither does giving him detention.

"But I don't mean it," David replied smartly.

"That's it, detention after school all next week and during recess today," Ms. Heather said, walking away. David's loud complains were ignored, by all but his friends. Bella picked up the pieces of her ruined project and walked to her desk. She worked hard to make her sculpture; she wasn't the most artistic person in her family. And she kept forgetting her own strength.

"You okay?" Jackie asked, walking over to Bella. Bella rested her head on her arms and nodded.

"As okay as I can be. Why does he have to be so mean?" Bella replied. Jackie shrugged and walked away to go show off her project. Bella looked at the shattered remains of her sculpture and then glared at David. _'Big meany, I hate you,' _Bella thought.

* * *

**Date: **Thursday, October 29th, 1968** Time:** Early Afternoon

**Place:** Greenwood Elementary School

"Hey sissy, I saved you a swing," Melissa said, slowing down on the swings. The fifth graders were put on a field trip, so the swings were free(ish).

"Thanks 'Lissa. But what about Adri?" Bella asked, sitting down. She looked around the playground.

"She's being annoying today, so I'm ignoring her," Melissa replied. Bella began swinging. She wanted to see how far her could go.

"So, how did the teacher like your clay thingy?" Melissa asked. Bella didn't answer. Melissa stopped swinging and looked at her, confused.

"Hello? I asked you a question," Melissa said. Bella sighed and mumbled something Melissa couldn't understand.

"What?" Melissa asked. Bella groaned and took a deep breath.

"She didn't see it," Bella said quickly. Melissa cocked her head.

"Why? I thought you were showing it off today," Melissa asked. Bella was silent for a moment before answering.

"It broke," Bella replied.

"How?" Melissa asked.

"I dropped it," Bella answered. Melissa was surprised, and it showed on her face.

"You dropped it? How? You're like the most careful person I know," Melissa exclaimed. _'She is not telling me something. She better tell me soon,' _Melissa thought.

"David bumped into me, and I dropped it," Bella replied.

"He made you drop it?" Melissa asked. Bella nodded. Melissa got up.

"I'll be right back; I have to go get something from Anna," Melissa told her. Melissa didn't bother to see how Bella replied. She just walked away. _'You don't mess with the Cullens.' _

* * *

**Date: **Friday, October 30th, 1968** Time:** Afternoon

**Place:** Greenwood Elementary School

"You want to explain what happen?" Esme asked, walking away from the school with Melissa. She was mad. She didn't like being called in the middle of the day by a principle and told to pick her daughter.

"No. There's nothing to explain. I bet David he couldn't drink something, and he threw up after he drank it. I don't see why I got in trouble," Melissa answered.

"The principle said that David told him you forced to drink that," Esme told her. To an extent, Esme believed Melissa. She doesn't force people to do things, she tricks them into doing it.

"He is just sore that he lost. I bet him that he couldn't drink an entire gallon of milk in under five minutes, and he threw up before he finished drinking. He owes me money," Melissa replied, climbing into the car. She wasn't too surprised that she was in trouble. _'I hope I can still trick or treat tomorrow. Or at least wear my costume,' _Melissa thought.

"Perhaps, but did you know that he would throw up?" Esme asked. She started the car. Melissa kicked her feet and stared out the window, watching the trees and house whip past the windows.

"I might have heard somewhere that drinking an entire gallon of milk is impossible, but I didn't know if it was true or not. I need to test it out," Melissa replied.

"Melissa, you can't do that. You made someone sick," Esme told her.

"Someone who knew repercussions were. I told him he would throw up; he choose to do it. I shouldn't be in trouble. I didn't do anything. That was all on him," Melissa said, defending herself.

"Answer me this, why him?" Esme asked, truly wanting the answer. She knew that Melissa didn't do things like this without reason.

"He was stupid enough to do it," Melissa answered curtly. Esme stayed quiet and waited.

"He been picking on Bella lately; I just wanted him to stop. He's so mean to all the girls, I wanted to get back at him. I thought this would get him to back off," Melissa explained. She stared back out the window, and counted the number of people they passed. It kept her from wondering what was going through Esme's mind.

"While I don't like what you did, you do have a point. He choose to do this. But you know better, honey. You were the one who brought the milk, you were the one who suggested it. So, I do have to punish you," Esme explained, watching Melissa's face fall, "starting next week on Monday, you are grounded."

"Yes!" Melissa exclaimed. That means she can go trick or treating!

"Thank you Mom! I promise, it won't happen again," Melissa stated, before whispering, "without good reason." Esme heard her, but choose not to acknowledge it.

"You understand that I still have to speak with your father about this?" Esme asked. Melissa nodded, trying to think of a way out. While she wasn't going to risk Halloween, she did want to get the lightest sentence she can. _'How to do that?' _She wondered.

"Can we call a family meeting? I feel that this issue should be decided by the entire family and that they all deserve a say," Melissa argued. She knew that most(if not all) of her siblings would approve of her actions. They are very protective of the girls(especially shy Bella).

"I don't think you'd get a very fair punishment if we did that," Esme replied. Melissa didn't deny it, that's the whole reason she suggested it.

"Is that a no? Because I'm not hearing a no," Melissa asked.

"Yes, that's a no," Esme said. Melissa sighed, but didn't complain. Halloween is only a day away, can't risk it.

* * *

**Date: **Saturday, October 31st, 1968** Time:** Late Afternoon

**Place:** Cullen House

"We're gonna go trick or treating, I'm gonna get a lot of candy," Melissa sang, twirling into the room. She was a ballerina, with a black leopard, purple tutu, and glitter in her hair. She twirled on light purple ballet slippers. Her hair was done up in a bun and Alice put makeup on her. She was happy as can be.

"Wow there, little girl. Careful before you break something," Jasper said, stopping her from twirling into a table.

"Thanks, I got dizzy," Melissa said, before running into the kitchen. She was excited beyond belief. She loved Halloween. Mostly, she loved the candy.

"Hey, princess. Really to beg for candy?" Melissa asked Adriana, who was the cutest redhead in the house(never mind that she is the only one) in her long pink dress, pink dress shoes with small heels, long white evening gloves, sapphire necklace, and golden tiara with sapphires and rubies.

"Totally! I love this costume, I feel like a total princess," Adriana said spinning around. Melissa clapped and smiled at her.

"Where's Bells?" Melissa asked. She saw Bella earlier when Alice dragged her to get dressed.

"I think she's still in Alice's room. So, who's your chaperon?" Adriana asked. Melissa looked at her with disbelief. She had only told her a total of three hundred times who she was trick or treating with.

"Eric. I going with Eric," Melissa told her slowly. Adriana nodded in acknowledgment.

"So there will be a lot more tricks than treats on your route," Adriana said.

"No, there will be an equal amount. I'm going trick and treating," Melissa replied, glad the Esme and Carlisle were called last minutes to the hospital. A surge of injuries(thankfully none major) has forced the hospital to call them in. _'It's sucks that they are going to miss Halloween, but this way I get to have more fun,' _Melissa thought happily.

"Well, I'm going with Alice," Adriana told her. Melissa rolled her eyes and started looking for her secret weapon.

"Yeah, I know. You've told me a million times," Melissa replied. After failing to find it in the living room, she walked upstairs to see if it was in Emmett's room. While walking past Alice's room, she knocked on the door.

"Hey, is Bella done yet?" Melissa asked through the door. Bella yelled yes, but an older, female voice said no.

"Alice, stop torturing her. That's my job. Can I come in?" Melissa continued. Alice told her yes. Melissa opened the door and and stepped in.

Bella was unhappily sitting on a wooden chair in the middle of the room. She had black boots on with ripped white stocking underneath, a knee-length black, ruffled skirt with red lining, a black and red shirt with 'U of DIE' written on it, and a ripped long-sleeved white undershirt. Her face was painted paler then usual and fake blood dripped for her mouth.

"Dead cheerleader?" Melissa asked. Bella nodded, but was stopped by Alice pulling her hair. She was putting Bella's hair into a half ponytail with a red ribbon.

"So, who is going trick or treating with you?" Melissa asked.

"I was thinking of asking Jasper," Bella replied. Jasper, hearing the comment, told her yes from his place downstairs.

"Why Jazzy?" Melissa asked. Alice finally let Bella get out of the chair.

"Because he's one of my favorite people, and I was hoping he could use his power to make people give me more candy," Bella answered. She picked up her pom-poms and looked in the mirror.

"Good strategy. Almost wish I thought of that," Melissa said, walking toward the door, "Oh, have you seen my secret weapon?"

"Nope. Sorry," Bella replied. Melissa sighed and left the room.

* * *

**Date: **Saturday, October 31st, 1968** Time:** Evening

**Place:** Sidewalk

"Why?" Melissa asked. This was the first time she has EVER heard Eric actually say no to a prank.

"Because there is a fine line between pranking and being mean; that would be crossing it," Eric explained. Melissa didn't agree, but she let it go. She didn't have much of a choice, he was her ride home. And in charge of her.

"I don't see how that's being mean. It's not like I'm hurting anyone," Melissa said, taking a lollipop out of the candy bag Eric was holding for her. That thing is heavy. _'It's pretty full; it is a good thing that we're moving on to the next area. Gives me a chance to change bags,' _Melissa thought.

"That's because you're not thinking it through, which is the reason we still treat you like a little kid. Think about it," Eric said.

"Well, destroying their Jack-o-lanterns might be a little mean, since it looks like they worked hard on it. And I guess it might not be the best idea to play with fire. And I guess... yeah that would be considered mean. Okay, you're right," Melissa admitted. Eric chuckled at her pouting face.

"Hey, it's okay. You still learning. In the mean time, you have me to keep you out of trouble," Eric said, grabbing Melissa's hand before crossing the street. Melissa rolled her eyes.

"Okay, I get needing a chaperon, but do you really need to hold my hand?" Melissa asked.

"You tend to get distracted, I'm just making sure you don't get hit by a car," Eric replied with a smirk.

"One time! You will never let me live that down," Melissa responded. She and Eric finished walking to his car, where Melissa dropped her 5th bag of candy on the floor of the car. She, like a good little girl, put on her seat belt before Eric started the car.

Melissa, who was feeling a bit tired, spent the ride in silence, calmly looking out the window. This was very different from the beginning of the night, where Melissa was talking enough to put Adriana to shame. Eric picked up on the fact that she was lacking energy and decided to go to the last area.

He parked in the parking lot of a convenience store and got out of the car to open Melissa's door. Melissa got out with a new, empty bag, and tucked a loose piece of hair behind her ear. Eric walked Melissa to the first house, passing by three other children.

"After this street, we're going home," Eric told her.

"I'm not tired." Melissa replied.

About ten minutes later, Eric was carrying Melissa back to the car. Melissa was sleeping lightly, with her head lying on his shoulder. He open the backdoor, set her candy bag down, and gently set her down. Melissa woke up momentarily, but closed her eyes again. Eric fastened her seat belt and went over to the driver's seat.

"Don't let Adri get my candy, it's mine," Melissa mumbled.

* * *

**Date: **Wednesday, February 16th, 1969** Time:** Late Morning

**Place:** Greenwood Elementary School

Adriana was sitting(surprisingly) quiet in the corner. For once in her life, Adriana found a book she was actually interested in("The History of Fashion"). So when she finished her work, instead of turning to the nearest person and talking about the first thing that came to her mind, she pulled out her book and read. The students sitting around her were able to finish their work on time.

When the teacher dismissed them for lunch, Adriana lagged behind. She took her lunchbox and walked over to the oak tree. Sitting down, enjoying the morning sun, she was very glad that she didn't mind the cold. Adriana absentmindedly ate her food.

"Hey carrot top," Rachel said. She, Olivia, and Ella walked up to Adriana.

"Hey, Ella," Adriana replied, not looking up. _'Still can't believe she's hanging out with them. I'll never understand girls,' _Adriana thought.

"Hey, Adri," Ella said timidly.

"So, fatty, finished your food already? You never stop eating, do you? You're gonna weigh a ton," Rachel taunted. Adriana just ignored her.

"You and your sisters are so weird. You're entire family is weird. My mom was shopping yesterday and she saw you sister there, the blonde one, and said she was dressed like a total s-l-u-t," Rachel continued.

"Do you even know what a s-l-u-t is?" Adriana asked. Rachel hesitated for a moment.

"I don't need to know what it is. If your sister is one, then it has to be bad," Rachel replied.

"Whatever, go away," Adriana said.

"You're no fun, not like your sister. She cries," Olivia told her. Adriana stiffened and looked at her.

"Which sister?" Adriana asked, having a suspicion.

"That ugly little brown-haired one," Olivia said. Adriana took a deep breath in. _'You can't hit her, you just have to make it to May. Then Europe! Don't hit her, don't hit her,' _Adriana repeated.

"This is boring, I'm going to go mess with invisabella," Rachel said, walking away.

"That's not clever! Or funny. That's just stupid," Adriana shouted. _'I wish I could I hit them so bad. Damn it!' _Adriana thought. She hates them so much. Adriana tried to clam down, but she just couldn't. Those girls are horrible! A girl can only take so much. And they have been mean all month!

Adriana picked up her book and walked to the classroom, resolved to call Esme and ask- no demand that she pick her up now. Because if she has to deal with them for one more minute, someone is going to the hospital. And it won't be the hybrid.

Adriana reached the classroom and went straight to the land-line. The teacher, for whatever reason, wasn't in the room. Adriana picked up the phone, dialed nine, then dialed the house number.

"Hello, Cullen residence. Esme speaking," Esme said.

"Hey, Mommy. Can you pick me up? I'm having a bad day," Adriana said softly. She really just wanted to go home and forget school exists.

"Honey, I can't just pick you up for no reason," Esme replied. Adriana sighed.

"But- But- Please, Mommy? If I stay any longer, someone is going to get hurt. And it won't be me. And I'm trying really hard, but these girls are just so mean. You know, they made Bella cry! Can you believe it? Bella is like the sweetest person in the world. And... I don't want to be here anymore. Please, Mommy?" Adriana begged. Esme was quiet for a moment.

"Alright, I'm coming. Tell Bella and Melissa that I'm picking them up too," Esme replied. Adriana smiled.

"Thanks, Mom. Love you," Adriana said.

"Love you too," Esme answered. Adriana hung up. She felt better already. Adriana skipped out the door and went off to find her sisters.

* * *

**Date: **Tuesday, May 12th, 1969** Time:** Late Afternoon

**Place:** Cullen House

"Adriana, get back here!" Esme yelled, turning away from the phone. Adriana continued to go stomp her way up the stairs. Rosalie put her keys down on the table.

"Carlisle, we're talk more when you get home," Esme told him. Carlisle and Esme said their goodbyes and Esme hung up. Esme took a deep, unnecessary breath. Today started out good; the girl were surprisingly compliant this morning. But apparently something went wrong, because the school called to tell her that Adriana had punched a fellow student. _'She was doing so well,'_ Esme thought. She knew that she and Carlisle still needed to hear Adriana's side of the story.

Esme sighed and walked up the stairs. As she neared the room, she noticed it was very quiet. Peering in to see Adriana laying face down with a pillow covering her head, Esme knew she had to hear her side of the story.

"Adriana, you want to tell me what happened?" Esme asked, staying by the door. Adriana, without moving, mumbled out no.

"We need to talk," Esme told her. Adriana scoffed and moved the pillow off her head.

"Talk? We're not gonna talk. You gonna stand there and lecture me, tell me that I should have known better, then you and Daddy are going to cancel my trip!" Adriana yelled, hiding under her pillow again. She was mad, disappointed, frustrated- just a bunch of uncomfortable emotions that she wanted to hide from.

"Honey," Esme said softly, walking toward her, "You know that's not true. If you just explain what happened, we can come up with a FAIR punishment." Adriana kept her head under the pillow.

"Can I tell you when Daddy gets here?" Adriana asked, her voice muffled. Esme rubbed her back, in an effort to comfort her.

"Sure," she answered. Esme stayed in the room for about ten minutes, until Adriana's heartbeat and breathing told Esme that she had fallen asleep. Then she quietly left the room.

* * *

**Date: **Tuesday, May 12th, 1969** Time:** Early Evening

**Place:** Cullen House

Adriana hastily wiped her eyes and face, before letting out a very low 'come in'. She hid her face in the pillow.

"Honey, what happened?" Carlisle asked, as he and Esme walked in. He just got off his shift at the hospital(they refused to let him get off early) and got an earful from some very angry parents.

"How's Morgan?" Adriana asked, lifting her face up enough that her words were understandable.

"She's physically fine, no real long term damage," Carlisle answered her. Adriana was glad to hear that; she had no idea how hard she had punched her until her nose started bleeding.

"I didn't mean to punch her. Well, I did mean to, but not hard," Adriana said, after clearing her throat.

"Can you tell us what happened?" Carlisle asked. Adriana swallowed and laid her chin down on her arms.

"Well, I was climbing up a tree, because someone dared me to, and I fell. I wasn't high up or anything, so I didn't get hurt. So I'm getting up from the floor, wiping off the dirt from my skirt, when Morgan walks up and starts insulting me. She was like, 'You even fail at being a boy. Why are you even here? Your parents didn't even want you 'cause you're obviously adopted. Did I tell you I'm having a summer party. You're not invited. I don't invite weirdos,' and then a bunch of other stuff about me.

"I told her to go away and that nobody liked her. Then she slapped me! So I glared at her and then turned around to go tell a teacher. While I was walking away, she laughed at me. Laughed. I really did try to walk away. Honestly I did! But when she laughed at me, I- I don't know- snapped," Adriana finished. Esme and Carlisle looked at each other.

"We didn't know that. Now we do. And now, we can make an informed decision," Esme said. Adriana looked at her parents.

"I know that I'll have to be grounded for using violence, and I'm okay with that. I really could have hurt her. I should have just gotten a teacher. What I care more about is if I can still go on my trip in June. It isn't fair that I worked really hard all year and I get it taken away from me right at the end," Adriana said.

"You're right about being grounded. As for the trip," Esme trailed off, looking at Carlisle.

"You did work really hard, so after we move to our new house, you can go on your trip with Alice and Jasper. However, the second you came home, you're grounded. Understood," Carlisle told her. Adriana squealed and jumped up to hug them.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you!" Adriana exclaimed. She jumped off the bed and ran out the room.

"You still have to be on your best behavior until then," Carlisle informed her.

**AN: And that's it for this chapter. The next chapter won't be like this. It's not snapshots. I still have to choose whether to break it up in two. I think I will. That way I can change the POV.**

**Review please!**


	9. Chapter 8

**An: This is shorter than normal. That's because I broke this chapter into two parts. But I did add a lot to this, it was even shorter before. Made it as long as I could. Don't worry, I won't make you wait to long for the next chapter. It'll be up tomorrow.**

**Tell me if you like it!**

**Chapter Eight**

**Expect the Unexpected**

**Edward's POV**

"Put me in! I wanna play already. I've gotten better," Melissa pleaded, the wind and thunder doing nothing to cover her words. _'Not that I don't love them, but why did am I stuck with the girls on my team? They can't keep up with us. The only time they're good is when we're playing capture the flag.' _I thought.

The family and I were outside in an empty field in our new town, playing baseball. The rain was coming down hard, not that any of us cared. The three little kids wanted in, and none of us can say no to them. Especially when they work together. They, Alice, and Esme were on my team. The only good side to this is that they are good at distracting the other team. Melissa knows how to get under your skin, and Adriana is just loud.

"Pretty, pretty, pretty please," Melissa begged. _'Damn it.'_ She was using the face. The puppy-dog face. _'Damn it!'_ I didn't have a prayer. When she wants, she can really look adorable. _'Looks like you have to put her in bro.' _Jasper thought. He was mentally laughing at me. _'Just wait until she wants something from you,' _I thought. I turned to look at her.

"Fine, you're up next. Try not to strike out," I told her. Melissa smiled and celebrated, before she just stopped and glared at me. _'I guess the other half of your comment finally sunk in.' _Rosalie thought.

"I am NOT going to strike out! I bet you I'll even get a home run," Melissa stated confidently. _'Huh, interesting,' _I thought. The rest of the family was telling me(ordering me really) to hurry up in their thoughts.

"Bet me what?" I asked. Melissa picked up a bat while she thought of an answer(I'm assuming). _'I wouldn't take that bet Eddie,' _Emmett thought. I rolled my eyes at him.

"If I can, you have to take me with you to the Elton John concert," Melissa decided. _'Alright. I guess I can handle that. It's not like it's gonna happen,' _I thought.

"When I win, you have to stay out of my room for the next ten years," I told her. Melissa frowned, but nodded.

"Alright, Emmett. Don't hold back," Melissa said to him. Emmett nodded at her, smirking. Melissa got into place and focused on him.

"Go 'Lissa!" Adriana cheered, after Melissa managed to hit the ball. She hit it hard; it went far. I'm frankly surprised and a little worried. Melissa didn't waste anytime seeing where it went, she just ran. Ran fast(as fast as she can.) Jasper went after the ball. Melissa managed to get past second base, before Jasper came back into sight. _'__Are they going easy on her?'_ I wondered.

Jasper threw the ball to Rosalie, just after Melissa passed the third base. Rosalie went to tag her, but Melissa managed to duck and slide home. She was covered in mud and happy about it. I lost our bet.

"Yes! Yes! In YOUR face. I told you so," Melissa exclaimed. Getting out of the mud, she stuck her tongue out at me and did a victory dance. _'I'll be damned. I really need to stop underestimating her. I get screwed every time.'_

* * *

_'Seriously Emmett, just drop it already.' _I thought angrily. He's been rubbing it in our faces that we lost since the game ended. Melissa and Adriana went ahead to get away from him. I would have too, except I was keeping pace with Bella. She wasn't her fastest today. The game seemed to have tired her out. Richard and Alice were with us.

"It wasn't even that big of a deal, Emmett. Shut up," Bella said, as we slowed down to enter the house. _'Dude, drop it already. We won by one point.' _Richard thought. Bella dropped her raincoat on the porch with the others. She had mud in her hair and on her clothes. _'We might have not won, but the girls did try,' _I thought. Mud caked every inch of them. That pissed Adriana off, since the mud ruined her clothes.

"Maybe it's not, but my team still won," Emmett replied. Melissa scoffed from her room. Her hearing was getting better. It was almost on par with ours. _'Which isn't all that good for the couples. How much longer are Esme and Carlisle going to wait before explaining where babies came from?' _I wondered.

"Yeah, but we won at life. Beat that," Melissa said. Emmett didn't seem to agree. I heard Melissa stroll(at an above human speed) down the stairs. She prefers to talk face to face.

"How so?" He asked. _'Can't wait to hear this,'_ Emmett thought. Melissa stayed quiet until she entered the room, dressed in green pajamas. She sat down at the table and looked at Emmett.

"We get whatever we want, we don't have to go to school for another seven years, Mommy makes our favorite every single day, we don't have to deal with Rosalie on her bad days, we get to sleep in and be lazy, we get to stay in our pajamas all day, and we get birthday presents! Oh, let's not forget. We also made you wear pink to school like three times," Melissa answered. _'Did she have to bring that up?' _Emmett thought.

"Yeah, we got you beat at life. Go on and brag about your victory against a team that was half children," Bella said, exiting the room.

"Yeah, but those children are half vampire," Emmett stated, trying to save his dignity.

"They are also half human," I replied, going upstairs to wash up.

* * *

"Eddie bear! Finally, you're home. I wanted to talk about Friday," Melissa greeted me, as I walked in. I had just finished a boring, unproductive day at school and was now being confronted by a zealous Elton fan. I looked over at the kitchen and greeted Esme, before returning to Melissa.

"What about Friday?" I asked, walking to the den area. Melissa followed me as I greeted Bella and make my way to my room. Bella was practicing the guitar, composing a piece. I can hear some of my other siblings upstairs.

"When are we leaving?" Melissa asked, as we neared my room. I turned around in the doorway to look at her. _'Well, we have to drive out to Seattle, so at least an hour in advance. Better make it an hour and a half.' _

"The concert starts at 5 o'clock, so we need to leave by 3:30. Please be ready on time," I told her, opening my door. I entered my room and dropped my book bag on the floor. _'I'll do my homework later. It'll only take me five minutes.' _ Melissa followed me inside and closed the door behind her. She took a look around the room(Why? I have no idea. She been in here dozens of times).

"You know what I realized today," Melissa said, skipping over to my couch. She sat down and leaned against her arms. That was when I noticed she was still dressed in pajamas. Her hair wasn't even brushed, it looked like she just woke up. _'Lucky, she get to stay home and lounge around all day, while I'm being bored to death at school.' _

"That you're just as annoying as Adriana," I guessed. I heard Adriana yell indignantly at me, but I ignored her. I did briefly wonder what she was doing, until I realized it was better not to know.

"No. And I'm not. I realized that this is the first time we've ever gone anywhere without Bella around. Seriously, think about it. Have you ever gone anywhere with Adriana or me, without Bella?" Melissa explained. _'I never realized that. Damn, I really do spend a lot of time with her.'_

"I never thought of that," I replied slowly. Melissa shrugged. I walked over to my music collection and started rifling through it.

"It's true. Not that I mind you spending way too much time with Bells, but you better not invite her to the concert. She doesn't even like Elton John. She'll ruin it," Melissa said. _'Is she jealous?' _

"Alright. Guess it'll just be you and me," I said, looking over at her. I haven't even thought about asking Bella to go. I know she doesn't like Elton John._ 'I guess Melissa on her own isn't that bad, hopefully. As long as she doesn't get distracted. I hope no one else decides to invite themselves.'_

"Yay! The concert will be so much fun," Melissa exclaimed. I smiled at her enthusiasm.

* * *

"Sounds good, Bella. But it would sound better if you speed up the tempo," I told her, after she finished playing. She was showing me her new song. It didn't have any lyrics; Melissa was writing that. All and all, it was great, but the tempo was a bit off.

"Thanks for the advice, Edward," Bella said with a smile. I checked the time and sighed. Melissa was ten minutes late.

"Melissa, hurry up," I said. I didn't raise my voice, since there was no need. _'We really need to leave soon.' _

"Just give me a second! I'm looking for my Elton shirt. Where the freak is it?" I heard her reply, before (I'm assuming by the sounds) she dived back into her closet. _'She's never going to find anything in there. That entire room is a mess,' _I girls are still sharing a room, even at the ripe age of nine(physically). And it was a mess. Like a tornado hit it. Then a flood. Then an earthquake.

"Did you check under the bed?" Bella asked. Melissa answered yes. _'Why would shirt be under a bed?' _I thought.

"All the beds?" Bella asked. Melissa didn't reply, instead more rustling was heard.

"Found it!" I heard. _'Finally.'_ I said goodbye to Bella(and messed up her hair a little), then picked up my car keys. I can hear Melissa's footsteps as she runs down her hall and the stairs to the ground floor.

"Let's go! We're gonna be late," Melissa yelled, running by me. I rolled my eyes and walked(at vampire speed) out the front door. As I neared my car, I saw Melissa's excited, bouncing self. I don't see how it can take her so long to put on blue jeans, sneakers, and a t-shirt. Her hair was simple too, tied up in a high ponytail with bangs hanging in front of her eyes.

"Get in," I said, after unlocking the doors. I quickly start the car and pull out of the driveway. I drive down the rarely used road that leads from our home to the interstate.

"This is gonna be so cool!" Melissa gushed. She was bouncing again. I chuckled at her actions. She was too adorable for her age. _'She gonna be hell as a teenager.'_

"Calm down. We have an hour until we get there," I told her. I turned to the interstate and drove toward Seattle. Melissa stopped bouncing and started messing with the radio.

"I know, I know," Melissa replied. She finally stopped on 99.5 and turned to the window. She leaned back and looked very relaxed. The car was silent after that, except for the radio. It stayed that way for a few miles. _'Then nice thing about traveling with Melissa, she's quiet when she wants to be.' _Then, something weird happened.

_'So excited, so excited, so excited, so excited! Can't wait! I am so excited. This night will be super fun! I'm so glad I got that home run; I knew those lessons with Alice would play off. I need to make her a present or something. Maybe I can get her something at the concert. So excited!' _

What the hell?

**AN: Did you like it? Yes, I am leaving it there. The next chapter will be up soon, don't worry. And please review. I feel like this chapter was... off. Tell me if you think I should change something. Next chapter up tomorrow!(or if I feel generous, later today.) **

**Review!**


	10. Chapter 9

**Author's Note: Here's the other half! Enjoy and review. Oh, and this isn't Bella's only power, it's just the one showing up now.**

**PS. If you've noticed, I changed the summary. Should I change it back, or leave it as is? I also change the summary of In the Beginning. Tell me in the reviews.**

**Chapter Nine**

**Wait, What?**

**Melissa's POV**

"Hey, Edward. What songs do you think he will play at the concert?" I asked. It's been too quiet for too long. _'I wonder how much longer until we get there. I wonder if Edward will buy me a new shirt.' _Edward didn't answer. I turned in my seat to look at him. He seemed deep in thought.

"Ah, hello?" I asked, trying to get his attention. Nothing. _'Should I be scared? I don't think his mind is on the road.' _I hit Edward as hard as I can on the shoulder.

"Hey!" he yelled, snapping out of whatever funk he was in. He glared at me, and I calmly(with a smile) told him to keep his eyes on the road.

"What up? You were completely zoned out," I asked. He shook his head, to clear his mind I guessed. I waited patiently, on the outside. _'Hurry up Edward! I'm not getting any younger. God, you're taking so long. Answer the damn question!' _

"You're really impatient," Edward commented. That comment shocked met. _'What? I was calm and collect on the outside. What is he talking about?' _I looked at him warily. I didn't like people calling me out. Ever. No matter how small.

"No, I'm not," I replied. He didn't respond at first, which gave me time to think about why he would say that. I did my best to seem calm. _'__The only person who ever sees through it is Jasper. And that only because of his power.'_

"We have about twenty more minutes until we get to the concert," Edward told me. I stayed quiet and waited. _'He will tell me eventually. He better.' _

"You know how I can't read your mind, or Adri's or Bella's," Edward said. I nodded. _'Yeah, you were always pissed off at that, because we kept secrets from you. Like when we were planning on egging your car. Ah, good memories.' _

"Well, that's not true anymore," Edward told me. _'Wait, what? I don't... What! You can read my freaking mind! Damn it, now I can't curse in my head. Great.' _

"Really, that's what your upset over?" Edward asked. His eyes left the road to look at me.

"Give me a break, I'm in shock. You can read my mind? Why? How?" I asked. _'Great. Just great.' _

"I don't know, but I think it might have something to do with Bella. Like you said, I've never been alone with you or Adri, but I have been alone with Bella before," Edward said. _'No sh-iz. If I curse in my head, are you gonna tell Mommy?' _

"No, that would unfair. Everyone does," Edward answered. _'Oh, thank God. Back to the point, so you __think it is because of Bella?'_

"It's the only thing I can think of that makes sense," Edward replied. I nodded, letting the words sink in.

"So, what? Bella has some, like, shield that keeps you out of her head, and out of mine for some reason?" I asked, before pausing to consider it, "Actually, I can believe that. I mean if a hyperactive pixie has psychic powers, and a moody teenage boy can read minds, then Bella can have a shield."

"Oh, damn," I blurted out, after a few moments. _'Just realized, that means Bella is more special than me. No. No! She can not be more special than me! She's my little sister for God's sake.' _

"Little sister? She's taller than you," Edward commented. I shrugged.

"Always seen her as my little sister, always will. Don't ask why, I have no idea. It's just always been that way. Although, we are probably the same age," I replied. I let that train of thought go, and focused on the important thing. That, at that moment, Bella was more special than me. That wasn't right.

"Are you jealous?" Edward asked with a laugh. I scoffed three times before replying.

"No," I answered, stretching out the word.

"Hey, relax. You might have a power, we just have to find it," Edward told me. That made me feel the tiniest bit better.

"I'm not jealous," I stated, looking out the window.

"Sure," Edward replied. He got on our exit. _'Yay! We're almost there.' _

"Just remember to stick near me at the concert. You don't want to get lost there," Edward said. I scoffed indignantly.

"I'm not gonna get lost," I stated.

* * *

_'Okay, I'm lost. Where is he?' _I thought, searching for Edward in the crowd. The concert let out(it was awesome! I loved it!) and Edward and I were leaving. I saw something on the floor(it was a wallet with forty dollars but no id. I took the money, but left the wallet.) and then I lost him. _'Has Edward even noticed I'm gone yet? He was on the phone. Hey Edward!' _Nothing. _'Damn.' _

I weave in and out of the crowd and made my way to the parking lot. _'At least I know where the car is.' _I did my best to stay out of sight. I didn't trust strangers.As I walked toward the car, I noticed someone watching me. He was creeping me out. Staring at me. _'Edward! Where the hell are you?' _

"Melissa, what did I tell you?" I heard from behind me. _'I'm in trouble, aren't I?' _I thought as I turned around to face him. Edward grabbed my hand and pulled me to the car. _'Was that guy planning something ? He freaked me out.'_ Edward nodded again. _'Oh, well I could have taken him. He looked weak. Creepy, but weak.' _I thought as we reached the car.

"This isn't completely my fault," I said, climbing into the car. I put on my seat belt. _'You know I don't go down alone. If I get in trouble, you get in trouble.'_

"How so?" Edward asked, starting up the car. I smiled as I explained.

"I'm nine, you should have expected me to get distracted," I answered. _'Mom and Dad insist on holding my hand when we cross the street. You trusted a small nine-year-old to keep up while you walked through a large crowd. You know how good of an actor I am. And I will cry if it will benefit me. Are you gonna tell them?'_

"Nothing happened, so I guess I don't have to. And you and I both know you're not nine and could have kept up with me," Edward said. _'Physically I am. And Daddy says that emotionally I am too. And you got me on the second point. But I'm a little, cute girl. Who do you think they'll believe?' _

"That's true," Edward replied. _'I'm sleepy. I'm gonna take a nap. Nighty night.' _I laid my head on the seat belt and closed my eyes. I was asleep in no time.

* * *

_'Where am I?' _I wondered, before I realized I was in my bed. I smiled and stretched. _'That's how you know you're still a kid. When you fall asleep and magically wake up in your bed.' _I kicked the covers off and quietly got out of bed. I walked into the bathroom.

The house was quiet, so most of the family must have left to do whatever they want. I saw Bella still in her bed, but not Adri. I wondered where she was. I finished what I had to finish and reentered my room, just in time to see my little sis wake up.

"Morning Bells," I said, leaning on the bed. Bella sleepily waved at me.

"Morning," she yawned. She stretched and climbed out her bed. I gave her some time to wake up her mind before I asked her anything. When she finally rubbed the sleep out of her eyes, I began.

"So, did Edward tell you what happened yesterday?" I asked. Bella nodded and made her way to the bathroom. I rolled my eyes at the lack of an answer. I sat on her bed and waited for her to exit the bathroom.

"So, what did he say?" I asked, as soon as she came back.

"He told me that he could read your mind, which meant I probably had a power. Honestly, I think it's kinda lame," Bella answered.

"Lame? You're power isn't lame. It's pretty cool. You're the only one here that can keep a secret from Edward 100 per cent of the time. Plus, who knows? There might be some cooler parts of your power. If you can protect yourself from Edward, I bet you can protect yourself from other powers too," I replied. Bella smiled, which I took to mean that she believed me.

"True. I guess it is a little cool. So, do you think I can control it?" Bella asked. I shrugged.

"If you try, yeah some day. I bet you can even extend it to the rest of our family. That would be awesome, family-wide prank!" I answered. Bella and I giggled. I giggled at the prank I was planning. Good pranks take time. And planning. And outside help. Bella and I went downstairs to get breakfast.

"Hi Mommy!" We greeted. I smelled something good. _'Is that pancakes?' _

"Hi sweeties, your breakfast is on the table," Mom said. I sat down next to Mommy and Bella sat across from me. _'Yum, it is pancakes!' _I noticed Mom looking at something. _'I wonder what she's looking at.' _

"What's that?" I asked with my mouth full. Mom gave me a disapproving stare. Bella laughed at me. Mean sister. I swallowed and apologized.

"What's that?" I asked again. Mom smiled and showed me the paper, then Bella. _'Looks boring.' _

"It's blueprints for a new house I'm designing," Mom explained. Bella glanced at it, before going back to her breakfast. It wasn't much to look at.

"So, did Edward say anything else last night?" I asked Bella. _'The only thing I know that happened last night is a nightmare where I was a teenage and about to go on a date. Man, was I high maintenance. I feel sorry for whoever dates me when I'm older.'_

"Not really, sis. Just the mind reading thing," Bella answered.

"That was weird. I didn't like him in my head," I commented. _'Beyond weird. I am so glad that will probably not happen very often.'_

"Edward said you took it very well," Mom said. _'Well, yeah. I wasn't going to freak out. He could hear my thoughts!'_

"Mommy, I live here" I explained, gesticulating to enforce my point, "You learn to deal with weird. And to accept it." Mom looked amused at my words. _'Go ahead and laugh. It's true.' _I went back to my food. After a while, a question popped into my head.

"Do you think I have a power?" I asked. I looked at both of them.

"Remember our cousins in Denali, Alaska?" Mom asked. _'Let's see, Denali. Denali. God, do I remember them? Uh... Oh, that snowy place we visited forever ago! I remember them now. I didn't like Kate for some reason, but then we made up and it was all good.' _Bella looked lost. I guessed she didn't remember them.

"Yeah, I didn't like Kate at first. Why was that?" I asked.

"I'm not sure, you never told us," Mom answered. _'Guess it'll just be one of life's mysteries. Or I could Kate!' _

"Well, what about them?" I asked, getting my mind back on tract. Bella stayed quiet and listened in. _'She is too quiet, I need to change that. I need to make her louder. Or at least put a bell on her. Ha, Bella wearing a bell. So gonna force her to be a cow next Halloween.' _

"Eleazar can identify gifts. If it really bothers you, we can visit them and see what he says. He can give us an answer, " Mom suggested. I thought about it.

"Didn't he find out last time we visited him?" Bella asked. She has a point. I looked at Mommy, who shook her head.

"This was when you were little, and you didn't feel safe around them. So, you didn't let any of them touch you. He was never able to get a read on you, Melissa. Or you, Bella. Or Adriana for that matter," Mom explained.

"So, wouldn't I have to go without Bella?" I asked, thinking about it.

"Why?" Bella asked, surprised.

"Your power would get in the way," I answered. Bella made an 'oh' face, then nodded.

"Still getting used to that," Bella said. I turned back to Mommy.

"I'd rather be surprised, then to have him tell me," I answered. _'It'll be way more fun to figure it out on my own.' _

**AN: Did you like it? I hope so. And as always, please review. And tell me if you like the change in summary. I can always change it back, I just thought this matched better.**

**You know what I just realized, I changed from present tense to past tense in my last story. The first few chapters were present tense, then I changed it. I don't know whether to leave it alone, or fix it somehow. I kinda want to fix it, but that's time-consuming. I don't have time. Tell me, did any of you notice? Like seriously. Did you? 'Cause I didn't. **


	11. Chapter 10

**Author's Note: I am reading this 30 days to a more powerful vocabulary book for my English class, so I am trying to use the words I'm learning. That is my excuse. Also, I want to sound smart.**

**P.S. At some point I will be editing In the Beginning. Not now of course, I have way to much on my plate. But possibly over Thanksgiving break or winter break, I'll take a break from this story to work on it. I'm starting with those in the girls' point of view.**

**Chapter Ten**

**How(Not) to Write a School Report**

**Adriana's POV**

"Stupid, ugly, no good, fu-" I mumbled, walking into the house. I was mad. Furious. On freaking fire!

"No cursing!" Mom reprimanded me, cutting off my rant. She had this strict no cursing rule.

"Okay!" I snapped back. When I realized what I had done, I slumped my shoulders and walked into the kitchen to apologized.

"Sorry Mom, didn't mean to snap. I'm just mad," I told her. I threw my back pact on the table, and it made a loud thud as it landed. I heard Edward walk into the house. He had to pick me up because I got held back in detention. I didn't even deserve it! My teacher was stupid and hated me!

"Want to talk about it?" Mom asked, handing me a snack. PB&J sandwich, an apple all cut up, and a doughnut(because I needed something sweet); my kind of snack. Mom always makes me exactly what I want.

"No," I answered curtly. _'Stupid school. I hate them. I wish the school would burn down! I am starting to scare myself,' _I thought, with a start. I was working myself up, so I took a deep breath and counted to ten. And when that didn't work, I counted to twenty. And then I gave up. Counting doesn't work.

I ate every piece of my snack(and then some) before finally going upstairs to work on my totally unfair and undeserved homework. A two page essay on how great my school is, which is a load of bull. '_Oakville Elementary sucks! S-u-c-k-s. Sucks!' _

_'It isn't the school itself,' _I acknowledged, walking into my room, _'It's the people. The students are loudmouth(And that's something coming from me), ignorant, mean, just nasty children. Were they raised by pigs? Because they have no manners!' _

Bella was in the corner reading, like she does after school everyday. She's been doing it ever since she stopped practicing. Ever since she discovered her power seven years prior, she had worked toward controlling it. She hadn't made too much progress, she could only momentarily shield one other member of our family. Daddy said it might get easier as she gets older. Bella was really getting frustrated before she finally quit.

_~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Flashback~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~_

"Hey sissy! How did the training go?" I asked. It was the first weekend since school started. I was enjoying being away from that hell hole. Bella had just came into the room.

"Horrible. I'm never gonna get better!" She yelled, throwing herself on her bed. She was upset, I knew it. It was plain to see. Her voice was high-pitched and breaking, a sure sign she was about to cry. I didn't know what to do. I didn't deal well with tears. It wasn't until I heard she sniffling, that I finally responded.

"Hey, you don't know that. I'm sure you will, you just need more practice," I consoled her. I sat down next to her and rubbed her back.

"No I won't! Why won't any of you get it through your thick skulls? Practice is not the issue here. I'm just not strong enough," She cried. Her face was blotchy and red, and she kept wiping away tears. On the bright side, she was starting to calm down.

"Okay, what do you mean?" I asked.

"I mean... I mean... I know what to do. Now that I'm looking for it, I can feel my shield. I don't know how I didn't before. I can feel it wrapped around you and Melissa. I know it's there and I know how to use it. It's easy when it's you or Melissa, but when it's someone else, I can't do it.

"It's like... Shielding is different for every person. And it's harder with people who are older than me and so different. Like I have to stretch my shield out more for them. You or Melissa, it's so easy. I don't even have to think about it. I guess because you're my sisters... I mean... I can't explain it.

"But with everyone else, I can't get it... It's not... I can't. It just won't. It's not strong enough, or elastic enough. No amount of practice is going to force it too," Bella explained. I didn't know that. At least she completely calmed down, I think she just needed to cry out her frustration.

"Well, I'm sure that if you told Daddy you didn't want to practice anymore, you could stop. Like Daddy said, as you get older, it'll get easier. I bet you're just too young," I replied. Bella nodded.

"Thanks," Bella said.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~_Back to the Story~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~_

And that was it.

Sighing, I collapsed onto the desk chair and took out a pencil and notebook. I hated writing essays. They're boring, and hard, and boring and time-consuming, and BORING. '_Maybe I can get Melissa to do it! She likes to write. What else are sisters for?' _I thought.

"Hey, Melissa! You wanna-" I began to ask, but Melissa cut me off with an emphatic "No!". I cursed under my breath, which Mommy called me out on.

After banging my head on the table ten times, I opened my notebook and began.

"My School. By Adriana Cullen. Written on September 30th, 1977," I said, as I headed my paper.

_'Now what? Maybe I should write about how the teachers do nothing to stop bullies. And I'm not a bully! I'm standing up for myself, since no one else will. So, he has a few bruises. He shouldn't have picked on me! Now he knows. I bet he won't do it again.'_

_'That's not even all. The teachers suck, they don't teach anything. Melissa's especially; thank God I'm not in her class. Mr. Sruntull is the worse. Only been in school a month, and I can tell this will be a horrible year. Ms. Garcia hates me. Just thinking about what happened...' _

_~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Flashback~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~_

I was swinging on the swings in the playground. It was recess. I was going as hard as I could. The swing was making sounds that worried me. The school needed funding to replace them; I had already asked Daddy. That place was a death trap.

So after I get off(it was scaring me too much), this rude boy named Toni comes up to me with this snooty attitude. He has no manners what-so-ever. None. But he thought he could criticize me. No, no, I didn't think so. So, he started insulting me, which went something like this:

"You are the most annoying person in the world. You just talk and talk, you never shut up. Why don't you shut up? Huh? Just shut up, you stupid carrot top. You think you're so smart, well I'm smarter than you. You're an ignoramus compared to me," Toni said, trying to sound tough, but failing. It was laughable. _'Yeah, randomly throwing in a big word at the end really makes you look smart. You wanna see smart? I'll show you smart.' _

"I'm not as vexing as you. And if you are so intelligent, my pompous friend, why didn't you say I'm loquacious? Do you not know the definition of that word? Huh. It describes a person who talks a lot. Next time you try to, ah, insult me, better make sure you can back up your supercilious attitude. Oh, do you not know what that means either?" I threw back. _'Don't try to outsmart me, I will make you look stupid.' _

"Whatever. You still don't have any friends, you nerd," he replied.

"First you call me stupid, then you call me a nerd. Pick one, because I can't be both," I told him. I was not going to back down.

"You're an ugly little nerd who no one likes. That's why you and your weird sisters don't have any friends. No one is ever going to like you. You are doing to die alone. I bet you even have some weird disease," he said. Man, did I want to hit him. I wanted to send him to a hospital.

"I'm going to ignore you," I said. Then I TRIED to walk away. Really, I did.

"Like the entire school is ignoring you. Did you hear? Everyone's invited to Beth's birthday party. Except you and your sisters. You never get invited to anything. I bet that strings. No one likes you. You gonna cry? Huh, you gonna cry?" he taunted. _'No, I'm going to break your nose.' _Of course I didn't, or else I would have been in worst trouble.

Instead, I just pushed him around. And grabbed his arm, twisted it, and threatened him. I was sick of him torturing me. Said I would sneak into his house and decapitate him if he didn't stop messing with me(Keep in mind, I was half vampire. So, he peed himself in fright).

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~_Back to the Story~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~_

And then Ms. Garcia showed up. I got detention, and he got off free. Well, he did have to change his pants.

I groaned and went back to writing. I knew I couldn't use any of that, so instead I started writing some bull that I didn't believe in. Bull like:

"My school is the best. Its teachers are motivated to teach and always put a smile on my face..." _'Is it hot in here, or is it just me?' _

"... The lessons are enriching and cover a multitude of subjects. I always feel like I'm really learning..." '_Okay, I think I have a fever. Too hot. It's like I'm on fire,' _I thought, finishing the first page. I figured that was enough lying for now. _'I'll finish the rest later.' _I stretched and ran downstairs to watch TV.

* * *

"So, yeah. Now we have this big test next week. He is so high-strung; I hate him. I don't want to go to school, but if I stop, that's admitting defeat! He will not defeat me! I just need to make him quit," Melissa explained, in a deceptively calm tone.

"I don't think that's a good idea," Jasper said. Melissa shrugged.

"I'm not gonna do anything illegal, and he deserves it. That guy is horrible, the school should fire him," Melissa replied.

"Maybe, but you shouldn't try to make your teacher quit. If he really deserves to be fired, then he will get fired," Jasper told Melissa. While our sibling normally went along with our plans, they did occasionally have to act like a responsible adult and stop us. This was one of those times for Jasper.

"That will take too long, I want him gone now," Melissa whined.

"Melissa, you can't. You're gonna get in trouble. You'll have to wait it out," Jasper said. She groaned and laid down on the couch. I could tell by her body language that she understood what Jasper was saying.

"I almost hope I get sick, so I have an excuse not to go. I can't just stay home for no reason, because then he would win. I will NOT be beat," Melissa said. Jasper chucked at her.

"You're fighting an out-of-shape teacher," Jasper said. Melissa glared at him, got up, and stomped away. Then came back, picked up her stuffed cat, and walked away again.

"Jasper, you know shouldn't have said that to her," I said, after she finally left. I went back to watching TV.

* * *

"My head hurts, I think I'm gonna pass out. I should stay home today," I told Mom. She just smiled and handed me my lunch. I sighed and walked to the car.

"Hopefully, today will be a good day," Melissa said. I shook my head.

"Yeah, right," I said. I climbed into the car and daydreamed the entire trip. When we finally arrived to school, I grabbed my back pact and jumped out of the car. I looked around briefly, before walking with Melissa and Bella inside. I ignored all the insults that the meaner kids threw around.

Most of the kids here aren't mean, they just ignore us. They don't want to get picked on too. Which made making friends very hard. For some reason, I felt like there was a window of opportunity, and we missed it. _'I miss having human friends. I want someone who loves princesses and dolls; and Alice doesn't count!' _I thought.

Bella and I walked into Ms. Garcia's classroom. Ms. Garcia was a short woman, with dark brown hair. Her hair was wispy and thin, and her clothes were plain. Normally, she wore a short-sleeved shirt and long skirt. She was old-fashioned, a stickler for the rules. She wouldn't have been so bad if she hadn't hated me.

"Good morning, Ms. Garcia," Bella greeted. I just walked to her desk, dropped off my paper, and then continued walking to my chair. I had never greeted her before, wasn't about to start.

"Good morning, Isabella," Ms, Garcia said, in her Spanish accent. I wondered where she came from, but I never asked her. What if she snapped and hated me more? Bella rolled her eyes at the use of her first name, before sitting down.

"Good morning class, today in math, we will be going over subtracting fractions," Ms. Garcia said, turning to the blackboard. She picked up a piece of chalk and started writing. Before I could tune her out, someone threw a paper ball at my head. I turned around and saw Vicky point to it. I picked it up and smoothed out the paper. I read the writing, before balling the paper up and throwing it back. I stuck my tongue out at her.

"Adriana," Ms. Garcia said. I cringed and turned back around. She looked mad.

"Yes," I said, stomping on the impulse to speak Spanish just to throw her off. I remained myself that I had to look sorry.

"Why don't you tell me the answer to the problem," Ms. Garcia suggested. I glanced at the problem, counted to five, then answered her. Which surprised her; she thought she had me off-guard. She always thought she had me off-guard, until I gave her the correct answer. She never learned.

"Very good," she said. She turned back to her lesson. I leaned against my palm and started daydreaming. I daydreamed that I wasn't in a stuffy classroom that was painted a terribly ugly blue, a blue that was also starting to peel off. I daydreamed that I wasn't in a hard, uncomfortable, wooden chair.

I daydreamed that I wasn't surrounded by idiots who were throwing spitballs at me. I daydreamed that I wasn't subconsciously counting down the minutes until I could leave. The class went by pretty quickly that way. In a dragging, painfully slow kind of way.

"Finally," I whispered, getting up and stretching. Lunch time. Bella and I grabbed our lunches and walked out to the playground. We met up with Melissa everyday at lunch and ate under the oak tree. It was nice.

"Hey sissy!" I greeted Melissa. I sat down and took out my lunch. But before I could eat, this blond boy walked up to us. His name was Kevin, he was shorter than me, and he normally left us alone. He was a decent person.

"Hey, give me your lunch," he demanded. I didn't respond. Verbally. Instead, I punched his leg lightly and growled at him. He ran away. Quickly. I never saw a fat boy run faster. Of course, once he returned to his 'friends' I realized that they dared him to do that. I could have punched him for that comment, and those kids knew it! Because I have. My temper has gotten a lot shorter.

I shook my head and returned to my food. '_We would have made better friends than those kids, at least I wouldn't make fun of his weight(past occasional teasing). Those kids make fun off him every time he turns his back. These kids are idiots,' _I thought. I ate my food, then started up a game of tag with my sisters.

That turned out really fun for us, especially when a few of the students in fifth grade joined us. Sara, a dark skin girl who was extremely nice(we ganged up on Melissa) and Yeni, a Hispanic(I think Cuban) that talked very fast, plus a few others whose names I didn't get. They were so fun!

All good things come to an end, and recess/lunch ended. Bella and I returned to our class, Melissa returned to hers, and Yeni and Sara went to theirs. They did agree to meet up with us the next day, which was awesome. I looked forward to it.

I struggled to stay awake the rest of the day. Ms. Garcia was going over a book I had read twenty years ago with Mommy; she was preparing the class for the test on Monday. Also, I didn't get the best amount of sleep last night; I needed to stop eating gummy bears before bed. They gave me the worse dreams.

The bell rang after an eternity and I ran outside, with Bella behind me. _'Ah, sweet air! I can breathe again. Thank God,' _I thought. I waited for someone to pick us up, thankfully it didn't take long. Unlike this one time.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~_Flashback~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~_

So school had left out and my sisters and I were waiting outside. It was cloudy, of course. Otherwise we would have stayed home with the family. It was, however, very hot.

We waited, and nobody showed up. Mom called the school and said that due to a family emergency, she'd be a little late. This confused us; what the hell did that mean? Family emergency, that was code for something. We didn't know what.

The nice fifth grade teacher watched us while we waited for someone to show up. She took us into her classroom. I decided to take advantage of the glittery pens and bright markers she had, and I drew a very pretty landscape drawing of my house. It was as detailed as I could draw it within thirty minutes.

"Wow, Adriana, that is amazing. It is so detailed, you have a real skill here. Have you ever thought about being an artist?" Ms. Allen, the teacher, asked. I smiled brightly; I loved compliments.

"Oh, call me Adri. And no, I haven't. Actually, if you want to see skill, you should see Melissa's painting of our family. It is amazing. Took her weeks," I replied.

"Really, well. Maybe Melissa can bring it sometime," Ms. Allen suggested. I shrugged. _'I doubt it, she protects that with her life.' _I thought. She smiled and walked over to a small radio she had in the corner.

"Why don't you show me?" She asked, turning it on. I got out of my seat and danced for the remaining thirty minutes until Daddy showed up. I said my goodbyes and left the painting with her.

"So, what happened?" I asked. I was the first to ask. Beat my sisters to the punch.

"Nothing you need to concern yourself with," Daddy replied.

"Just tell us, we'll learn about it eventually," Melissa whined. Still, Daddy didn't spill. We tried the entire car ride. Nothing. I gave up when we got home. No one would tell us, they all kept their mouths shut.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~_Back to the Story~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~_

We still don't what happened. All I know is that there was an unfamiliar, lingering smell in the house. It was limited to the first floor, along with the smell of bleach. Someone was trying to cover up the smell of something. Made us all the more curious.

Anyway, Alice picked us up in her bring yellow car. The ride was uneventful. We listened to the radio, I talked with Ally about fashion. It was all nice and peaceful, just what I needed. Even though it was a good day, still stressed me out. We arrived home, and I had a snack. Melissa took a few(ten) granola bars upstairs and started doing her homework. Mr. Srunpull gave her an insane amount of work.

He was a real bully.

**An: Any guesses on who visited? Come on, guess! I'll give you a hint, the bleach was to cover up the girls' smell, not the visitor's. Any takers?**

**Anyway, next chapter is very special. Very special. Wanna guess how? I might have mentioned it in a past author's note, I think. Well, the number is off by one. But still. I am so excited! Anyway, please review! It makes my day.**


	12. Chapter 11

**Author's Note: Special treat! I finished this chapter really fast, so here it is.**

**Well, some of you guessed it! It was a member of the guard. Aro wanted to check up on the Cullens, and the Cullens needed to make sure the girls were far away. They cleaned the house, using bleach to cover up the odd smell of the girls and hide all their toys. The guard saw nothing out of the ordinary, which he reported back to the Volturi. So the girls are safe, for now.**

**But enough of that, time to focus on this chapter! By the end of this chapter, you will know Melissa's power. Adriana's power is chapter 13th (subject to change).**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight, but I do own a copy of the book which I used to write the last scene in this chapter. Which book do you think it is? Hint, there's a movie based on it. And the movie and book begin with "M". That's all I'm going to tell you. If you can... I don't know. I'll think of something.**

**Chapter Eleven**

**Discovering Myself **

**Melissa's POV**

"Bye Mommy!" I said, kissing my mom on the cheek. I was in an affectionate mood. I was happy and joyful and looking forward to lunch. I climbed out of the car and walked with my sisters to the front entrance. I hugged my sisters goodbye and skipped to my class. Alice told me that the sun will out during recess, but disappear at the end of the day, which made me really happy.

As I got close to my class, I stopped skipping. My class was a skip free zone. As I walked into the classroom quietly, I could feel my good mood slowly being sapped away. The room was like a parasite, sucking the life out of me. I sat down in my assigned chair. Third row, second seat. Fairly close to the front of the room, but across from the teacher's desk.

The teacher was out at the moment, probably thinking up some new horrible and barely legal torture to put us through. Or put me through. As I am more often than not, his target. I was the only one willing to stand up to him, as I was not afraid of him. I refused to be afraid of a human. A vampire, sure. A human? Never.

Mr. Srunpull was his name. But I called him the Srunpull. He was a formidable enemy, I can admit that. He was out of shape, as Jasper has reminded me. But his mind wasn't. As ill-fit as he was to teach, his mind was sharp. He came up with very good ways to break the students, but never laid a hand on us. There was nothing to charge him with.

That guy was a weird person. He hated children, but he was a teacher. He mentioned once that he wanted to become a college professor, but couldn't. Anyway, he demanded that a pitcher of water and a glass be put on the table everyday. We take turns getting the water. It was Amber's turn. I saw her walk in with the big clay pitch and set it down on the desk, along with a glass. She was oddly happy. I didn't like it. That never lead anywhere good.

Then he came in. The class quieted down immediately. We gave him our full attention. Even the chatterboxes in the back wouldn't dare to talk. He was always the meanest at the beginning of the day. Not that he was pleasant any other time of day.

He was in a particularly sour mood this day. He walked in, without so much as a glance in our direction. He walked over to his desk.

"Ah, to see the young, fresh faces of small children. How awful. You disgust me, you sniffling crybabies. I wish you would grow up already! I wish I could teach something more than this dribble," he stated, pushing all his papers off his desk, "I want to teach high level subjects! To read the Scarlet Letter with ones who won't ask me what scarlet is. But you've never heard of it, I'm sure."

_'Don't be so sure, mister,'_ I thought. I raised my hand. The Srunpull looked surprised when he saw me. I didn't bother to try to figure out what was going through his mind. I didn't want to know.

"What do you want?" he asked. He seem annoyed that I interrupted his psychotic rant.

"I've read it," I stated. I didn't offer anything more than that.

"What? Stand up," he demanded. _'Oh, God, now what? Why do I need to stand up?' _I thought, standing up. He walked over to me and stared, trying to intimidate me. I wasn't scared of that puny human. I stared right back.

"What did you say?" he asked, when he saw I wasn't backing down.

"I've read it. The Scarlet Letter. I've read all about Hester, and Pearl, and Reverend Dimmesdale," I told him. I threw in the names to prove that I have read it, not that it changed anything. He still didn't believe me. But I did throw him off for a second.

"Don't lie to me, you pathetic little bug. No way could you have read that book. It's too mature for a simple mind like yours," he said. _'Simple mind, huh? I can do college level math in seconds. What can you do?' _I thought.

"But I have read it," I insisted, instead of speaking my thoughts. The class already hated me.

"You're a liar and a crook, like you're awful sister Adriana. You two belong in prison," he sneered.

"I have read it, and I stand by that," I stated. Was that so hard to believe?

"Shut up and sit down," he said. Fine. He turned around and walked to his desk. But before he could reach it, he turned around.

"Pick up those papers," he commanded. What?

"What?" I asked, still standing up. I didn't have a chance to sit down.

"Pick them up," he repeated. I shook my head. No way. I swear, I heard him growl, which made me want to laugh. It's like a kitten growling at a tiger. If the kitten had a broken leg. I stood my ground.

"Pick it up!" he yelled, throwing some of the papers at my face. He was so lucky I didn't get a paper cut, because I would have played that up. Again, I shook my head. I stood my ground.

"No," I said firmly. I was not a maid, I was not going to pick up after him. He can pick up after himself.

"Pick it up, or get expelled," he said. I bite back my growl and picked up the scattered papers. I didn't want to be expelled. I placed them on the teacher's desk and straightened the pile. Then I walked back to my chair. I sat down again at my desk. The room was quiet for a few moments.

"What crawled up his butt?" I heard someone whisper to someone else. They didn't whisper quiet enough. He heard them, I could tell.

"Who said that!" he asked. He looked at all of us. His eyes rested on me for a second before moving on.

"Well, if no one will admit to it, then I guess I'll have to punish the entire class," he said. I groaned, along with the rest of the class. _'Why can't people just give themselves up? Save the class from punishment.'_

"50 push-up! No complaining," he shouted. I couldn't help myself.

"But that's not fair!" I exclaimed. I had a big mouth and I knew it. But I really couldn't help myself.

"100 push-ups for everyone," he said. I bit back a scream. No need to make things worse. I got up reluctantly, along with the other kids, and got into push-up position. I hated push-ups.

"Up, down, 1. Up, down, 2. Up, down, 3. Up, down, 4. Up, down, 5. Up, down, 6. Up, down, 7..."

* * *

"Up, down, 98. Up, down, 99. Up, down, 100. Alright, to your seats," he said, finally letting us get off the floor. I shrugged off the push-ups like it was nothing. Because it was. The other kids, not so much. I heard groans of pain and exhaustion coming from the other kids. I sympathized with them. I did make it worse.

I sat down and looked at the clock. It was only an hour away from lunch, and we haven't learned anything. Not that we ever do. That man needed to be fired yesterday. No, last week. He should have never been hired in the first place.

The Srunpull seated himself behind his desk. He shuffled some of his papers and took out a pen. He checked some papers, all the while the room was silent. You could have heard a pin drop. It was freaking me out. I hated silence. But I didn't dare say anything.

I watched disinterested as he reached out a hand and took hold of the pitcher. Still holding the jug by the handle but not lifting it yet, he said, "I will never understand small children. In a perfect world, they wouldn't exist. In a perfect school, they'll would be no small children."

I held my tongue from responding, as the Srunpull now lifted the large green clay pitcher and poured some water into his glass. And suddenly, with the water, out came a tadpole into the glass! I was surprised, where the hell did a tadpole come from? And it wasn't a young one, this one was in the process of losing it's tail, from what I could see. It had its legs. Cool as that was, I couldn't help but wonder how it got into the pitcher.

When the Srunpull saw the tadpole, he let out an unexpectedly girly shriek and leaped off his chair as through it was on fire. And now, the other children notice the little green creature swimming in the teacher's glass. They twisted and turned in their seat, yelling out ridiculous comments and speculations about what it was.

"It's an alligator!" Beth cried out. I turned around in my seat, to see if she was being serious. That didn't look anything like an alligator! I saw that she was and sent a prayer to God. She was going to have a hard life.

"Careful Mr. Srunpull! I bet it bites," Jared shouted. I shook my head. _'These kids are idiots. They don't know what a tadpole is!' _I thought, turning to face the teacher once more. At this point, the mighty Srunpull stood there in his black pants, quivering like a small child. _'Like the very thing he hates.' _I thought amused. He looked furious, his face red and scrunched up, as if he had eaten a lemon. I choked back a laugh.

He didn't seem to know what the creature was either, which was a real shame. He was the teacher. '_What has this country come to?' _I thought. Slowly, he sat down again in his chair, staring at the tadpole. He looked even angrier than before, with two dark holes full of fury and hatred where his eyes were.

"Melissa!" he barked, like a mad pit-bull, "Stand up!" What the freaking fuck?

"Who, me?" I asked. " What did I do?"

"Stand up, you disgusting little rat!" he demanded.

"I haven't done anything! I've never seen that tadpole in my life. I don't even know where to get one!" I exclaimed, pleading my case. But it must have fallen on deaf ears, because it made no difference.

"Stand up right now, you filthy little maggot!" he yelled. Reluctantly, I stood up. I hoped in vain that someone would fess up, though I knew nobody would. One, because nobody liked me and two, no one wanted to be in trouble.

"You are a vile, repulsive, repellent, malicious little brute!" he screamed. "You are not fit to be in this school! You ought to be behind bars! You utter disgrace, I'll see to it that you are thrown out of this school! I'll see to it that you are thrown into prison! A place where even your parents cannot save you. That is where you belong."

He was face red, like boiling water was splashed on it, and he was forming, like a mad dog. But he wasn't the only one losing his cool. I was seeing red too. I didn't mind being accused of something I actually did. I saw the justice in that. But to be accused of a crime I did not commit, I had no hand in planning, that I did not even know about! That was something else entirely. _'He is not going to pin this on me!' _I thought.

"_I did not do it!" _I screamed, breaking my rule of never raising my voice at school.

"Oh yes, you did!" the Srunpull roared back, reminisced of a lion. But I was (half)a vampire. Vampires eat lions for breakfast. Ask Edward.

"You put this, this..." he trailed off. _'Did he forget what it is called, after I said it? He needs to get his brain checked.' _I thought.

"Tadpole," I supplied, pushing the anger as far out of my mind as I could. I did my best to keep it out of my voice.

"A-ah, so you admit it!" he exclaimed. He just kept adding coal to the fire.

"No! I DID NOT DO IT!" I yelled. _'Screw my rule, this deserves volume!' _I thought.

"But you know what it is, so obviously you did it. I should have known. Rich parents, growing up with no rules; no wonder you and your deplorable sisters are so unruly. I shall have you all expelled," he stated, like a mad man. _'On what ground?' _I thought.

"Don't you bring my sisters into this!" I yelled. I stomped my foot. _'Stay clam. Stay calm,' _I chanted, balling up my fists so that I don't run across the room and beat him into a pulp. I didn't want to go to jail.

"Shut up! Shut up and sit down, or I will make you sit down!" he demanded. Slowly, I sank into my seat. The injustice of it all poisoned me. _'How dare he accuse me! I didn't do anything! I...I...I' _I thought. I could feel myself get angrier and angrier, but by some miracle of control, I managed to stay back. I managed not to leap out of my chair and maul him.

I felt like something was going to explode. All this pressure was building in my head, building, building, and building. For reasons I can't remember, I turned and looked at the tadpole. It wanted to get out of its glass prison. Much like I wanted to get out of my educational prison.

I stared at the Srunpull. How I hated him! I wanted him dead. Dead and in the ground. I glared at the glass. How I wanted to tip the glass and its contents all over his head, but I didn't dare to. I was already in trouble, as unfair as it was. I didn't need more.

The Srunpull was sitting behind his desk, staring in horror and fascination at the tadpole. I stared at the glass too. Then this weird feeling washed over me, like a waterfall. I felt cold, then hot, then cold again. My hands tingled. My chest tingled. My entire body felt like it had electricity running through it, but it didn't hurt. It felt good.

I felt powerful, unstoppable. A sense of strength overcame me and settled deep within me. At the same time, I felt this entirely different sensation. It was like little bolts of lightning radiating off my body. Like a thousand- no a million -little invisible strings connected me to everything. The world was a puppet, and I was the puppeteer.

Unconsciously, I concentrated the power on the glass. I found the strings connected to it and pull them. I pulled harder and harder. I saw, which my superb vision, the glass wobble. It tilted back a fraction, only to right itself. It was so slight, that I doubted anyone else noticed it. I pulled harder, yanking at the strings. Once again, it wobbled, but did not fall.

Then slowly, as if scared, the glass leaned back. Farther and farther back it leaned, until it was balancing on edge of its base. And there it paused, like a solder waiting for instruction. Just as I pulled at the strings a final time, the Srunpull banged his fist against the desk, probably wanting to start up again.

The glass tipped over, the water splashing out onto Srunpull. He screamed, scaring everyone in the room. It shocked me, jolting me out of the trance I was in. The feeling hid, but did not disappear. It just retreated to the back of my mind.

I stared, with wide eyes, at my teacher. He backed up until he was against the wall. He stared at the tadpole, as if it had talked and said it was going to murder him. A small giggle bubbled out of my mouth. While the scene in front of me was humorous, it was not the reason for my steadily growing laughter. Have you ever had something happen that you didn't know how to respond to? Like a comment a friend made out the blue. So you laugh? Not because it was funny, but because you don't know what else to do. That was what was happening.

As I laughed, the teacher snapped out of it and started yelling at me. But I didn't stop, I was too far gone. At that point, I didn't care what happened to me. They could have expelled me! Thrown me in jail, I didn't care. What had just happened left me in such a state that you could have put a gun to my head and I wouldn't stop laughing. He sent me to the office, where I slowly descended into calmness. By the time Mom came to pick me up, I was calm and collect, with a smirk I refused to explain.

As I sat in the car, I sank further into contentedness. Nothing could have brought me down short of death itself.

"Melissa, what happened?" Mom asked me curiously. She had no anger in her voice. I had told her for weeks that my teacher was horrible, and she believed me. She had talked with the principal about firing him. Seems he hadn't gotten around to firing him.

"Nothing much," I answered nonchalantly, looking out the window, "just discovered my power today."

**AN: Well? Did you love it? Like I said, the idea for this chapter was taken from a book. But I did do my best to make it my own. Love it, hate it? Tell me! Review! **

**And if you guess the book, then... I don't know. What do you want? Anyway, review!**


	13. Chapter 12

**Author's Note: Here's another chapter, a little earlier than normal. In case you weren't sure, Melissa is telekinetic. She can move things with her mind. A very powerful gift if you ask me. Although, it'll take her a while before she can do cool things with it. Just think about it, Melissa the prankster is telekinetic. Oh the possibilities!**

**And the movie/book for the last chapter was Matilda! Awesome movie and book!**

**Anyway, here's the chapter.**

**Chapter Twelve**

**Sugar Plum Faires and Snowballs **

**Bella's POV**

_'Thank God! School is over. Why do I have to be such a good student? Melissa and Adriana get to stay home all day and lounge around, while I'm being bored to death at school!' _I thought, happily eating my ice cream cone. It was Friday, and not just any Friday, the last Friday before winter break. No school for two weeks!

But I was the only one(other than Eric who was attending college) that really noticed. Melissa got expelled two months prior and Adriana got expelled about two weeks later. They were so lucky! They could stay home all day and have fun, while I was stuck at school. And now I don't have my bodyguards, so it's even worse.

Even though Adriana got expelled for fighting with someone(she lost her temper; it was a matter of time), that only stopped bullies for like three days. I made a few friends, but they were in fifth grade, so no real help there. I didn't want to make a big deal, so I didn't tell my family I was still being bullied. It wasn't that bad, I could take it. I could handle insults. I didn't need people fighting my battles for me. I was half vampire for crying out loud!

Sooner than I would have liked, my ice cream was gone. Popping the last piece of the cone into my mouth, I thought about winter break. Melissa was requesting my help in a prank(it was against Edward). She had the hardest time keeping it from him, since without me in the house, Edward can read her mind. He did not let her forget it.

Also, Alice was taking us to a ballet. Plus, snowball fight! I (un)officially had an alliance with Emmett, but really, I was working with Jasper. Adriana was working with Emmett too and had no idea I was double-crossing her. _'I hope she forgives me... I could always bribe her with a shiny toy.' _

Not soon enough, I got home. I didn't wait for Rose to exit the car, I jumped and ran like my life depended on it. The sun, like always, was watching the exchange from safely behind the clouds. It timidly peeked through the curtain of clouds before hiding again.

"I'm home!" I shouted, dropping my purple book bag on the floor. I left it near the door as I rushed up the stairs to my room. I heard music from the hallway leading to my room. Judging by the genre, I guessed it was Melissa. _'Perfect! Just the girl I wanted to talk to.' _

"Hey sissy! Wanna play a game?" I asked, cutting to the point. Sitting in a chair all day built up my energy until I was ready to pop. I needed to do something and playing a game with Melissa was perfect. She was always fun. A little evil at times, but fun.

"Sure! I have this really cool trick to show you," Melissa answered. She jumped to her feet and turned off the music. Melissa grabbed a pair of boots from her closet and a hat from the floor and was ready to go. I looked down at my uniform and decided that it really didn't matter if I changed or not. The cold didn't bother me all that much. But then I remembered that I really shouldn't get my skirt dirty, so I changed into a pair of pants. And since my shoes were already off, I put on boots.

"Let's go!" Melissa said. I followed her outside. Mom told us to come back before sun down, so we had like four hours. The day ends too early. We ran to a small waterfall that was about ten miles or so from the house. The water was so clear and nice, I loved it. All the birds were gone and the animals were asleep, so the forest was silent.

"Alright, what did you want to show me?" I asked her. Melissa flicked some snow into my face and stood up. I wiped the snow away.

"You haven't told anyone about my power, right?" Melissa asked. I nodded. I was the only one in the house who knew Melissa's power, although everyone else knew she had a power. Just not what it was. We would have told Adriana, but she couldn't keep a secret.

"Good. Look at what I've been working on," Melissa said. She pointed to the bare branches of a tree nearby. I looked at the tree. I saw one of the branches move, but when nothing happened, I figured it was the wind. A few seconds later I saw the same branch move again, this time moving back enough to show that it wasn't the wind, but not enough to snap the branch off.

"Damn it! I did it yesterday," Melissa muttered. I patted her on the back.

"Hey, you'll get it. Let's practice messing with projectiles," I suggested while picking up rocks. Last time, Melissa practiced changing the direction of the rocks I threw. She wanted to tip them down or up slightly, so slightly you wouldn't notice it changed course. '_Next time we play baseball, it won't just be the hybrids missing and striking out,' _I thought, getting ready to throw the rocks. I was sick of being picked last.

"Throw them hard; the more force it has, the harder it is to affect. I need realistic practice," Melissa said. I smiled and jokingly saluted her. I swung the rock as hard as I could. I saw the rock hit a tree, three feet above where I thought it was going to land.

"Nice. Throw it back," I told her. Melissa stared at the rock, until it levitated. I saw it get flicked in my direction. Bending down to grab it, I threw it back quick to catch Melissa off-guard. She cursed me out because I threw it right at her.

"Oh, shut it! It wasn't gonna hit you," I said. Melissa glared at me, and I didn't think anything of it, until the branches above me shook and dumped a ton of snow. Digging myself out of the snow, I threw a snowball back at her.

"Oh, you did not just pick a fight with me. Run little sister, run," Melissa stated, making a snowball. I ran away, laughing. I hid behind a tree and heard Melissa run by. I made a snowball and crept up on her. I used this cool little feature from my power to get a good idea where she was without seeing her. If I had someone shielded, I could feel with some amount of accuracy where they were.

"You little!" She yelled. I ran away from her, dodging snowballs. Being faster than her, I managed to lose her pretty quickly. I slowed down to find out where she was. While I was looking back, I got smacked by a low branch.

"Oh, I know that was you Melissa. Where are you?" I asked, trying to find her. My power needs to stop glitching on me. I can only tell that she somewhere north of me.

I cautiously walked forward. I listened for any sound, but was only rewarded with the sound of my own crunching footsteps. The sun reflecting off the snow blinded me slightly. _'Stupid light sensitive eyes.' _

"Oh! Missed!" I shouted, dodging the falling snow. She tried the same trick, but I was ready this time. She came out from behind the tree.

"You know, I could really use you on my snow team. We hybrids have to stick together," I said, referring to the family snowball fight.

"Oh, don't try that on me. I know your working with Jasper, traitor," Melissa said. She crossed her arms.

"What! No, why would you say that?" I said. Even I realized that sounded fake.

"Relax, I'm not gonna rat you out. I must say, sissy, I'm surprised. You have Adri and Emmett fooled. They won't know what hit them," Melissa commented. I shrugged. What could I have said? Jasper was persuasive. Plus, Emmett broke my guitar. Adri was just collateral. She couldn't keep a secret to save her life, which was why I kept her in the dark.

"When did snowball fights get so serious?" I asked.

"When we grew up and got competitive. This is completely our fault," Melissa answered, wrapping an arm around me.

* * *

Snow floated down, swirling in the air before landing on the ground. The world was silent, an electric silence filled with possibility. The air was chilly and nipping at my face, not that I cared. I was too focused.

It was the day of the(appropriately named) Snow Battle. Melissa agreed to help me(claiming that she wanted to support my deflection to the 'dark side'. Dramatic much?) and currently, I was making sure everything was in place. _'They won't know what hits them.' _

I went over our plan. _'First, we let Emmie and Adri take care of Edward(a pain in the neck).Then, I take out Emmett. Jasper is taking out Richard and Melissa is taking out Eric. That takes care of everyone, since Mom, Alice and Rose don't wanna play. Spoilsports. And Daddy has to work(which sucks! He is an awesome distraction). Our secret weapon will catch them all off guard.' _

Said secret weapon, was a series of what Melissa and I called snow bombs. Basically it was a bunch of trees that we found with a lot of snow in the branches, ready to fall on the victim below. Melissa set them off with her power by shaking the branch. _'We are so coming out on top!'_

And by we, I meant Melissa and I were coming out on top. Melissa convinced me to cross Jazzy last-minute, so that she and I could be named the winners. Before I left that morning, I sent Adriana to distract Ally, so she couldn't warn Jazz. Then I left to check the trees, to make sure they had enough snow. It snowed last night, so each had a new layer of snow. It was wonderful.

I loved winter. The white, fluffy snow just begged me to play with it. The snow angels, the snowmen, the snowball fights. Plus, the forest looked so beautiful. I enjoyed the scenery as I walked through the forest, on my way to one of the snow bombs. I could feel Melissa nearby.

"Melissa, what are we going to do about Adri?" I asked her as I reached the site of Snow bomb 4.

"Nothing. If she gets in the way, we take her out," Melissa said causally.

"But she's our sister!" I remarked. I did have a heart.

"And? Emmett and Jasper are our brothers and we're betraying them. This is war, she'll understand," Melissa replied. I looked at her incredulously.

"It's Adri," I said in disbelief.

"Let me rephrase that; we let someone else take her out," Melissa said.

"Deal. So what counts as out this time?" I asked. I left too early to hear that piece of information.

"10 snowballs or the equivalent counts as out," Melissa answered. That was five more than the last snowball fight.

"Cool. I checked all the other snow bombs, they're ready to go," I told her. Melissa smiled.

"Awesome. I packed our snacks, and hid a few around the woods. Here's your back pact," Melissa said, tossing it to me.

"Let's get back, it's going to start soon," Melissa said. I took one last look around and left with Melissa.

* * *

Two hours later, and the battle was still going. I had a lot of close calls. Edward almost got me twice.

_'Damn it Richard! You couldn't have set one of the other ones off?' _I thought as I ran the list of intact snow bombs. Richard just set off the nearest bomb(by bumping into the tree), taking himself and Adri out. Now, I was left with two bombs and two brothers to take out. Emmett and Jasper were still in the battle. Emmett took out Edward as planned, and Melissa said she took care of Eric.

Huffing, I ran to the nearest bomb. Melissa stayed near me, in the shadows to set off the bombs. I was the bait. I stopped for a second, I thought I heard something. But then I dismissed it. I located Emmett (who I was shielding) and put a plan into action.

"Emmie! Emmie! Adriana went to find Jasper and I think I saw Melissa go this way. Follow me," I said, pointing toward the next snow bomb. Emmett followed me without hesitation. He just kept making mistakes. '_After he's gone, I'll get Jasper.'_ I couldn't hear Melissa, but I could feel her following through my shield.

* * *

"I can't believe you," I spat at the traitor. I angrily took off my jacket, getting caught in the sleeves momentarily. I shook the snow off my head. The battle was over and now I was home.

"Bella, you have to understand-"

"No! I understand perfectly," I cut in, "You sold me up the river for a Christmas present."

"Eric offered to get me any three things I wanted. Anything! I couldn't past that up," Melissa replied. That little Judas double-crossed me and took me out with Jasper. She lied about taking Eric out, he was just hiding in the shadows. They ambushed us! I should have known not to trust her.

"Whatever," I replied crossly. I walked into the kitchen and grabbed a cup of hot cocoa.

"Will you forgive me if I share with you?" Melissa asked, almost nonchalant, as if my anger didn't bother her.

"Maybe," I answered quickly. _'Anything, huh? That is tempting.' _

"Good, because I was planning on sharing it with you and Adri," Melissa said.

"Yay!" Adriana yelled, clapping like a four-year-old. I giggled at my sister.

"Okay, maybe I was being a little dramatic," I admitted. Melissa smiled and gave me a hug, which I returned.

"Now, someone get me a cup of cocoa," Melissa said.

"How much longer now?" Adriana asked. We were sitting in the car, three days before Christmas. Alice was taking us to see the Nutcracker. Rose and Mom tagged along, so it was a girls only outing.

Adriana was sitting in Mom's lap since the car only has five seats.

"Ten minutes. But the show doesn't start for an hour. So, I thought we do some last-minute Christmas shopping before we watch it," Alice said, resulting in a groan from me. I hated shopping. I already bought all my gifts, like a responsible shopper. Well, except for Mom and Dad's present, that one I made with Melissa and Adri. We were going to sing them a song! Well, Melissa was going to sing, I was going to play piano, and Adriana was going to play drums.

"Yay! Shopping!" Adriana squealed. I rolled my eyes at her excitement.

"What is with you and shopping?" I asked her. She went shopping four days ago! She was wearing a new outfit! A purple dress with short sleeves that was fitted near the top, but flared out at her waist. It lace covered it and dress shoes finished her outfit. Of course, she also had a long black coat to keep her warm.

On the other hand, I was wearing a nice broken-in outfit. A long bell-sleeved teal shirt with faded jeans and a soft white coat. And black boots because I liked boots, they were warm and comfy. Even though the cold didn't bother me, I preferred the warmth.

"Shopping is awesome! What's with you and shopping?" Adriana shot back.

"Whatever," I answered. The conversation ended there. Adri filled the rest of the car ride with endless chatter. I stayed out of it and instead, talked with Melissa. We started out by talking about the Nutcracker, then it turned into a conversation about Melissa's prank against Edward. There was no reason for the prank, she just felt like it.

"It's just been too long since I pulled a prank. Do I really need a reason? It's a small, but funny, prank," Melissa said, tucking a lock of hair behind her ear. She went a few days ago to get her hair cut, so it was very short and her bangs covered her left eye.

"You don't need a reason, you just normally have one," I replied. Alice parked the car and we got out. Adriana went with Ally and Rose(because Adri needs two people watching her) and Melissa and I went with Mommy. We just walked around the city for a few minutes, before stopping at a restaurant to get a snack before the ballet.

"Can I get fries? And a burger? And a milkshake? And maybe a slice of pie?" Melissa asked, pleading with her eyes. I was good with just some fries, I knew that Mommy wasn't going to buy us a lot since dinner was only three hours away. Plus, we ate lunch two hours earlier.

"You can have one of those thing," Mom answered. Melissa deflated and frowned at her.

"Can I have fries and a milkshake?" Melissa asked. Mom hesitated, but then agreed.

"If she gets a milkshake, I want one," I said. Mom rolled her eyes.

"Fine," she answered. Mom bought the food and handed the milkshakes to us. I drank it on our way to where the others went. Melissa took longer to finish her milkshake, so she stole fries from me since she couldn't eat hers without a hand free. I counted the fries she ate so I could eat the same amount from hers.

"Hey!" Melissa said, as I stole a fry from her.

"You ate mine," was all I said. She stayed quiet after that. After about ten minutes in the store(and five bags of clothes), we went back to Alice's yellow car. We drove to where the ballet was being held. We left the bags in the car and went to get our seats. We sat near the stage. There was still ten minutes to until the show started, so we just talked.

"I could so be a ballerina!" Adriana argued.

"No, you couldn't. You don't have the disciple. You'd be all over the place," I said, throwing my hands in the air to empathize my point.

"I could!"

"Couldn't," Melissa threw in, crossing her arms.

"So could! You know what, I'll prove it to you. I'll take ballet lesson," Adriana stated.

"Just like you were going to take tango lessons?" Melissa asked. I shook my head at her.

"You never finish anything, Adri. Just stop, Oh, look! The lights are dimming. The ballet is starting!" I said, looking around. The lights were dimming.

"Yay, no more icky waiting," Adriana exclaimed.

* * *

"No! I wanna stay home, don't make me go," I whined, sounding like a five-year-old, rather than the ten-year-old I looked like. It was January 6th, the first Monday after winter break. Time to go to school.

"Bella," Mom said. She didn't need to say anything else, it was all in her tone. I hung my head in defeat. I walked with Mom to the car.

_'Goodbye fun! See in the summer,' _I thought miserably.

**AN: And that's it! Did you like it? Review please. Please. Seriously, review. Go on. Do it.**

**Another thing, I had my head in the future, and I was messing with the plots of other stories. And this came to mind. Why did Aro want to check up on the Cullens? He must have had a reason. Did someone anonymously sent him a note saying that the Cullens were hiding something ? Something Aro would be interested in. Aro would of course check out the claims. But not in person, no good rulers don't check things in person. He would send a guard, a guard who looks for the wrong things, therefore missing a very important detail. But who sent the note? Who would want to hurt the Cullens? Food for thought. **


	14. Chapter 13

**Author's Note: I'm so sorry about the delay, but I was sick and school is hectic lately. I read through this story, but not that carefully. So if you find a mistake, point it out please. I'm taking a break from writing until after winter break starts. I just need to focus on other things right now. I'm losing my inspiration, so I need a break. But I will get back to this, promise. **

**Chapter Thirteen**

**Suffering in Silence**

**Third Person POV **

**Date: **Wednesday, September 18th, 1978 **Time: **Morning

**Place: **Oakville Elementary School; Upstairs Classroom

"She's such a freak. Never talks to anyone," Beth said. The dirty blonde was sitting at her chair, ignoring the math worksheet in front of her. She was already failing, what would one worksheet have done? Next to her was a green-eyed Vicky, whose math grade wasn't much better.

"I know. She's always doing her work. She has no life. I bet when she gets home, she just does her homework all day. You're not going to invite her to your party, right? Because she'll so ruin it," Vicky replied. Beth scoffed.

"Of course not. Weirdoes aren't allowed... Did you hear? My mom's moving the party to the beach!" Beth said. Vicky smiled.

"No way!" She replied. The students around them shushed them.

"This party is going to be so fun! I would hate to not be invited," Vicky whispered. The two continued to chat aimlessly, until Bella walked by them. Then their chatter took a more insulting route.

"Think she's going to cry herself to sleep?" Beth asked.

"Actually, I think I'll be having my own fun in New York. My family is going on vacation," Bella replied. The two girls turned around to see Bella wave at them, then smile and walk away.

"She's going to New York?" Beth said indignantly. She huffed and crossed her arms, glaring at her blank worksheet.

"You're still a weird little girl with no friends. Your fashion sense sucks and at best, your average. Your family only loves because they have too," Beth hissed as Bella walked back to her seat. Beth knew that Bella heard her, since Bella's steps faltered for a second. Beth glared at the brunette, as she sat down in her seat and laid her head down.

"Hey, do have any idea what the answers are?" Vicky asked. Beth rolled her eyes.

"Just copy from Kevin. What else is he good for?" Beth answered her. Vicky nodded and turned to get the work from Kevin. Beth watched and copied off the same paper. She later got an "F" on the worksheet.

After an extraordinary long period of time spent on science that went right over her head, the teacher dismissed the class for lunch. Beth went with her group of friends to the cafeteria. On her way, she tripped Bella and called her a klutz.

After eating a delicious meal that her mother had packed her, Beth spent the lunch gossiping with the other girls. Talking about this, chit-chatting about that. They flicked food at students and made snide remarks. Entering the classroom, Beth was in her best mood that day. She only stepped on two of Bella's papers when Bella dropped them!

"What a little witch," Bella muttered, picking up her papers. Beth continued on her way to her chair. Bella sat down in her own chair and sighed.

* * *

**Date: **Friday, September 27th, 1978 **Time: **Afternoon

**Place: **Oakville Elementary School Playground

"God, she's looking over here," Kevin said to Jared. He and other kids were playing kickball, one of Bella's favorite games. Four makeshift bases were made out of book bags and books. Bella was sitting about ten feet away from the game, watching the kids play. While she liked watching other kids have a ton of fun playing her favorite game, she would have preferred playing it herself.

"Dude, don't make eye contact, or she'll turn you to stone!" Jared replied. Kevin shuttered and glance fearfully at Bella. Bella was acutely aware of the look, having received it enough times for her to lose count. While deep down Kevin knew that the rumor was just a rumor, something about Bella scared him. It scared a lot of the kids who were old enough to be aware of danger, but not old enough to be fooled by a pretty face.

"Should we ask her to play? I think she wants to," Alicia, the new girl, asked. She had just started school in Oakville and didn't know anything about Bella and her family. She was a nice girl and didn't understand why Bella was being left out.

"No!" Jared, the team captain, answered. Alicia took a step back in surprise and then slowly returned to the game. After a few moments, one of the other girls, Lily, came over to Alicia.

"She's a freak. No one plays with her. Ever. She's a creepy little girl; I heard she eats babies for breakfast," Lily informed Alicia. Alicia looked appalled.

"What? That can't be true," Alicia replied.

"I heard she's secretly an alien," Vicky said. Alicia shook her head and glance at Bella, who(despite a chill going down Alicia's back) seemed like a regular 10-year-old girl.

"Why would you make up stories like that?" Alicia asked, turning back to the two gossiping preteens.

"Why would you defend her?" Lily asked.

"Yeah, why? She's a creepy little girl with a creepy family and creepy books. If you're going to be her friend, then you should go over there and be weird with her," Vicky said. She looked at Alicia and crossed her arms. Alicia glanced at Bella before looking back at Vicky.

"No thanks," Alicia said. Vicky nodded and went to home base, since it was her turn to kick. Alicia looked back at Bella and offered her a small smile. She might have felt bad for the brunette, but she wasn't about to risk her friends. Bella caught the smile and didn't hold it against her. She knew first hand how hard it is to not have friends.

After another game, Bella walked up to one of the teams. She was sick of waiting in the sidelines and figured the other kids would be in good mood. She had to at least try.

"Hey, can I join in?" Bella asked. She walked over to Toni's team, with had one less player than the other team.

"No, we have everyone we need," Toni replied. Bella looked around and counted the kids playing again.

"But you're one short?" Bella commented, when she finished counting. Toni just repeated himself.

"I'm really good. I can kick really, really far," Bella insisted as a last ditch effort.

"No," Toni relied. Bella sighed and walked away. She spent the rest of recess in the classroom, reading. When the class comes back in after recess, one of the boys took Bella's book. The boy's name was Martin, and he wasn't a very good reader. As a result, he made fun of anyone he caught reading.

"So, instead of having fun like a normal girl, you come in here and read? You really are creepy. What is this, a book of spells? Because you'll need one if you ever want friends," Martin said, looking disgustingly at the book.

"Shut up and give me my book," Bella replied. Surprisingly, Bella had yet to reach her limit even though all the kids in her class have avoided her like the plague and treated her like something you flush down the toilet.

"Shut up you ugly little bug. I bet no one would even notice if you disappeared. I bet no one would care," Martin taunted. Bella knew that wasn't true(because she had disappeared before and her family freaked out when it happened). However, it still hurt her to hear that.

"Give me my book," Bella said.

"Fine, here's your stupid little book," Martin replied, tossing the book back at Bella. Bella caught it effortlessly.

"Just because you can't read, doesn't mean books are stupid," Bella stated. Martin tensed and glared at her.

"What are you talking about? I can read! I just-just don't like to," Martin replied, stuttering a little due to nerves.

"It's okay, you know. If you want, I can teach you," Bella offered.

"Why would I want to learn anything from a butt-head like you? Your icky freak cooties might rub off on me," Martin answered. Bella sighed as he walked away. She returned to her book, which was about a brilliant young girl.

* * *

**Date: **Tuesday, October 11th, 1978 **Time: **Morning

**Place: **Oakville Elementary School; Upstairs Classroom

"What's wrong with Freakella?" Vicky asked Lily. Bella was quiet that morning, even for her. The lesson hadn't started yet, so the class was just talking. Bella was staying out of it all and had her head down. Alicia was Bella's neighbor and, despite not being her friend, she was worried for the little girl.

"Hey, Bella. Is something wrong?" Alicia asked. Bella picked up her head. While her face was cautiously stoic, her chocolate-brown eyes had lost some of its warmth.

"Do you really care?" Bella asked. Alicia hesitated before shaking her head no.

"I'm just curious," Alicia replied. Bella sighed deeply and set her chin on her arms.

"I got into a fight yesterday with my sister. It was stupid; I used something of hers without permission and it broke. She got mad, yelled at me, and now she won't talk to me! Completely ignored me. I don't like fighting with my sisters," Bella explained, getting more upset. She blinked back tears and laid her head back down.

"Hey, I'm sure she'll forgive you," Alicia said. Bella gave her a small smile which Alicia returned until she saw Vicky looking her way. Then Alicia went back to pretending Bella didn't exist. Bella sighed softly and laid her head back down. The teacher came into the room and started the social studies lesson.

While Bella kept her head down and seemed to the outside world as being asleep, the teacher never called on her. The teacher, Ms. Allen, knew that Bella was too smart to be in the class in the first place, and didn't make a big deal that she wasn't paying attention. And according to the gifted teacher, she was even too smart for the gifted program. Had it been any other child, Ms. Allen would have been all over them.

"Ms. Allen, Bella's sleeping," Lily said.

"No, I'm not!" Bella replied, never lifting her head. Lily crossed her arms and scoffed. Ms. Allen just continued on with her lesson. When lunch came around, the children all hurried off to the cafeteria. Bella stayed behind the group, being the last to reach the cafeteria. She had her lunch tightly gripped in her fist and sat in a remote corner.

Bella took out her sandwich, prepared to eat fast. There was a new rule that you couldn't eat outside anymore, so she had to eat in the cafeteria with the other students before she could escape outside. The temperature had dropped outside, making it cold enough to need jackets. As Bella knew, that meant that few kids will be outside. So in a sense, the playground was hers.

As Bella finished most of her food, she took out her dessert. A couple of home-baked brownies that Bella actually helped make. Bella took a big bite out of one, enjoying the chocolate taste.

"You are fat. You eat way too much," Vicky said, passing by Bella. She was on her way to throw away her food, when she saw Bella eating her dessert.

"I have a fast metabolism. I have to eat," Bella replied. Her eating habits were never something the other kids could stop, not because they didn't make her feel bad, but because Bella couldn't eat less without a crippling hunger overcoming her. While her hunger had leveled out and stayed consistent for many years, it was strong. Missing a snack meant horrible stomach cramps. Nothing those kids said could keep Bella from eating.

"Yeah right. That's just an excuse fat people use so they can pig out," Vicky replied, walking back to her friends. Bella finished her food and left the cafeteria. She spent the reminder of the lunch period outside, enjoying the crisp October air.

* * *

**Date: **Tuesday, January 7th, 1979 **Time: **Afternoon

**Place: **Oakville Elementary School

_'Please don't notice me. Please don't notice me. Please don't notice-'_

"Hey, freakaziod!" Bella heard a voice shout. She sighed and faked a smile, turning to look at Jared. Bella discreetly hide her small stuffed toy behind her back pact. It was a little stuffed kitten that Jasper had won for her at Santa's Enchanted Forest, a fun fair they went to over winter break.

"That's not my name," Bella answered. _'Why can't they just leave me alone? I know I'm different, and on some level they know that, but do they have to be mean?I've never done anything to them. And it's not like I 'm a monster or anything... Well, I AM half-vampire, which I just could be considered a monster...But I don't hurt anyone! I don't deserve this...' _

"So, what did you do over the break? Contact your home planet," Jared asked. Bella took a deep breath to get rid of any rising anger and hurt.

"No. I spent time with my family," Bella answered shortly.

"What did you do?" Jared asked offhandedly.

"Why do you care?" Bella replied.

"I don't," he answered quickly.

"And I don't have to answer," Bella stated. Jared glared at her, but Bella met his gaze coolly. Bella would never stoop to their level, but she wouldn't always back down. She didn't really stand up for herself, more like stood her ground.

"Your eyes are dull." The words just slipped out of his mouth; Jared wasn't really thinking about insulting Bella. He just noticed that her eyes seemed different, duller. And without a mouth filter, he blurted them out.

"Thanks," Bella replied dryly. She wanted him to leave already. She wanted to go home already. She turned to her back pact, ignoring the bully in front of her. Jared lingered, but eventually left to find his friends.

* * *

**Date: **Friday, May 14th, 1979 **Time: **Afternoon

**Place: **Oakville Elementary School Playground

Bella was sitting happily in the playground, playing with some of the other fifth graders. It was nearing the end of the school year, and the teachers realized it was pointless to try to teach anything. So, after an unsuccessful morning, all the fifth grade teachers let their students out to play.

While Bella didn't have any friends in her class, the students in the other classes were a different story. On that particular day, Bella was playing with four kids from Ms. Darcy's class. They were playing tag and Bella was it. Bella chased nine-year-old April, who tripped over her pink shoelaces and got tagged.

"No tag backs!" Bella shouted, running away. April laughed and got back onto her purple sneaker wearing feet. She looked around and started chasing Harry.

"Tag! You're it," April yelled. She ran away from the redhead and bumped into Mia, who was knocked down.

"Sorry, Mia. Didn't see you," April apologized whiled helping her up, "You're just so little, you come out of no where."

"I am not little!" Mia stated outraged. All the while, Harry managed to sneak up on the two girls.

"Tag, Mia's it!" Harry announced, running away. April followed his example. Mia pushed her beach blonde hair out of her face and started chasing the others. Mia managed to tag James.

"I'm getting Bella," James said, chasing Bella. Bella scoffed at him.

"Yeah, right! Just try to tag me," Bella replied to the older boy. He was held back in kindergarten and in first grade.

"Alright. And when I do, I get your dessert," James said.

"Fine. But I'll let you know, I once had a three-hour long game of tag with my brother Emmett," Bella bragged.

"No way," Mia said.

"Seriously," Bella replied. Bella dodged and ran away from James, who had tried to sneak up on her.

"You'll have to do better than that," Bella said. Bella played cat and mouse with James for about ten minutes until he gave up.

"Alright, you win. You are the ultimate tag player in the world. Let's play something else," James said.

"What should we-" Mia's question was cut off by a teacher. It was time to go back to class.

"Well, bye guys," Bella said, walking back to her class.

* * *

**Date:** Wednesday, May 19th, 1979 **Time: **Morning

**Place: **Oakville Elementary School

The last day of school at Oakville was a big deal for the fifth graders. It was graduation day for them, and they get to come to school all dressed up. The students were in their respective seats, waiting for their graduation ceremony to start in the local banquet hall.

Bella was sitting up straight at her desk, reading her newest book. With her purple taffeta dress with a sparkly tulle underlay and a sleeveless bodice with ribbon embroidery and sequins, if you hadn't known she was rich, you would have by looking at her.

The room was large, as most banquet rooms are, and had a color scheme of sliver and lilac. There was ten plate settings at each table, with forks and knives that baffled the other children. Oakville was a small town, but it wanted its students to act like it wasn't. And apparently, that meant making a big deal out of finishing fifth grade.

While the other students tried to figure out what the extra utensils were for, Bella just flipped through her book, trying to ignore her sisters who were trying to get her attention from the back of the room. Melissa, Adriana, Esme, and Carlisle were there for Bella, which Bella appreciated. But she wished her sister would shut up!

Bella heard a general quieting down of the children and took that as a sign that the ceremony was starting. She gently set the book down on the table.

"God, I'm bored! When are we gonna eat?" Vicky whispered to Beth. Unfortunately, Bella was seated at the same table as them. The two continued to mindlessly chatter until the food was passed out. Bella, true to her teaching, set a napkin on her lap and used the appropriate utensils. She ate in small bites and chewed with her mouth closed. The same could not be said for the other children.

As Bella finished her food, the ceremony started up again, this time the awards part. She dainty wiped her face with the edge of her napkin and turned toward the stage. This was the moment Bella was looking forward to, ever since Alice hinted that she should.

While Bella disagreed with the school's decisions about who to give the awards to, she wasn't about to pass up a chance to get her self-confidence boosted.

"First is the gifted program award*****. This award is given to students who are part of the gifted program. First award is for... Isabella Cullen," the principal announced. Bella smiled gracefully, got up from her chair, and strolled to the stage. The gifted program was fun for Bella, while it didn't challenge her in the slightest, the assignments were better and funner than the ones in her regular class.*****

After Bella got her award, she took a quick picture on stage and sat back down. She set her certificate under her book and her trophy over it. Bella sat back in her chair and ignored the envious stares of her peers. The principal called the names of all the other gifted students.

"Next is the Academic Achievement Award***** for all the excellent students in this school. First up is... Isabella Cullen," the principal announced. Bella once again got up and strolled to the stage. The principal handed the award to Bella, who smiled for another picture.

Next were two awards that Bella didn't qualify for, but before long, the principal announced the music and journalism, both of which Bella received. She joined the journalism club halfway through the year. And the music award was a given. Once again, the other students glared at Bella, but she didn't care. Maybe if they spent less time making fun of her, they could have gotten an award too.

After the rest of awards were announced, and Bella clapped for all the students receiving awards. No one at her table got one. Finally, all the awards were handed out and all that was left was a short dance. Bella grabbed her awards and handed them to her family.

"You are such a book worm, sis. I'm so copying off you in middle school," Adriana said, in lieu of a congratulation. She gave Bella a hug. Melissa smiled and hugged her too.

"Come on, let's go dance," Melissa said. The three girls left to join the group of fifth graders. Bella danced with her two sisters, enjoying the fact that no one dared to make fun of her while Melissa and Adriana were there.

While the year started out sucky and she felt like quitting and being home schooled half-way through, it ended alright. She has her two sisters by her side, a two-month break from school in her future, and two silent bullies who finally shut the hell up.

Life was good. Every good.

**AN: The gifted program and academic achievement awards were real awards I got in elementary, along with a journalism and art award. I don't really remember the ceremony, just remember being called up to the stage a lot. And also, the gifted program rocked! It was fun and I loved my teacher! The only down side was that I failed my states and capitals test in social studies because I had no idea we were taking the test and I didn't study. :( But Bella didn't have that problem, she's too smart. **

**And if you didn't read my other note, I'm taking a break until after winter break started. I can't focus.**

**If you have any questions or comments, review or PM me. I'll get back to you eventually. **


	15. Chapter 14

**Author's Note: I hate moving... That's all I really have to say today. PS. I have no internet at home. Otherwise this would have been up a long time ago. **

**Chapter Fourteen**

**Simmering Underneath**

**Adriana's POV**

_'Oh God, are you ever going to shut the hell up?' _ I thought exasperated. Hearing a man go on and on about proportions and lineal equations would get old very fast and leave overactive preteens bored out of their minds. _'And to think, I was once looking forward to middle school.' _

Middle school. It wasn't all that bad once you got past the gossiping little girls and pigheaded boys. In fact, when they weren't talking about you, those girls could be pretty damn interesting. And they always had the best stories! I mean, yeah, the stories were mean and completely made up, but they were entertaining.

Anyway, so after summer vacation finished Mom sent Melissa and me to middle school. Why the middle school accepted us, I did not know. But it was a bad decision on their part.

Not to say I was a bad student. I have been in school almost three months and have only gotten four detentions. Record for me!(At least since we left Greenwood.) Melissa was a deceptively good student. If the teacher knew what she was behind of, oh god... Good thing they didn't know.

A strangely effeminate voice broke me of my thoughts. Looking up into the grayish eyes of my math teacher, I forced a fake smile on my face.

"Yes, Mr. Ronald?" I asked as sweetly and innocently was I could. Not that hard, I had a lot of practice.

"Ms. Cullen, do you care to answer the question on the board?" Mr. Ronald asked. _'No, but do I really have a choice?' _I looked at the board and did the math in my head. Easy stuff really, Mom went over it years ago.

"X equals 4 and Y equals 2," I answered. Mr. Ronald continued to look at me for a few uncomfortable minutes, before nodding and saying good job. I smiled in thanks. Mr. Ronald returned to his place in front in the class room and I returned to spacing out. School was so boring...

After another 20 or so minutes(I wasn't really paying attention to the clock), the bell rung and I was dismissed from my third period. Onto lunch! _'Thank God! I'm starving...' _Unfortunately, I didn't have either of my sisters in this lunch, so I had to sit with my normal human friends.

Getting in the ridiculously long line, I managed to find said friends(Katy, Becky, and Lily) and back-skip. What? That was totally okay!

"So, girls. Anything cool happen today?" I asked. Katy flipped her hair and answered me.

"Well, I heard that Annie and Alex are going out."

"Seriously? Why? She could do better," I asked. Annie was this annoyingly smart girl in most of my classes. It wasn't that she actively bragged, she was just annoying. And smart. And apparently dating Alex.

"She could do better? I think you're getting your- uh... pronouns!- messed up. Alex so deserves better than Annie," Katy replied. The line inched it's way forward. I rolled my eyes at my blonde haired peer.

"Let's agree to disagree. You girls wanna hang out this weekend? The new Georgia Jane movie comes out this Friday," I offered. Becky shook her heads.

"Sorry, can't. Family stuff," Becky replied, shrugging. _'That's too bad.'_

"What about you girls?"

"I have a lot of homework to catch up on," Lily answered. And Katy just offered a sheepish smile and shook her head. _'Oh, well that sucks.' _The line finally delivered us to our food. We got our trays, I paid for my food(since I didn't qualify for free lunch), and the four of us sat down.

"Hey, Adri. Can I borrow your lip gloss?" Lily asked.

"No."

"Come on!"

"I don't like lending my makeup! And besides, how do you know I even have it? I could have left it at home today."

"You always bring makeup."

"Katy, who invited you into this conversation? Because I sure didn't."

"Adri, are you going to lend me your lip gloss or not?"

"I don't wanna..."

"Please, Adri. I always lend you pencils when you need one!"

"Yeah, pencils you 'borrowed' from me, remember. Plus, I needed those pencils. You don't need lip gloss. I should even have lip gloss. Don't tell my parents."

"Pretty, pretty please?"

"Ug, fine. But only because I am a good friend. Let me just get it from my book bag." I reached in my sparkly pink book bag and grabbed my tube of strawberry flavored lip gloss. I handed it to Lily, who smiled in return.

"Thank you!"

"Yeah, yeah." The bell rang for fifth period. I said goodbye to my friends and walked away. My fifth period was a fun class. It was language arts with Mr. Caserus who I loved. Coolest teacher I ever met. I walked into the classroom and sat in my usual seat upfront. After a few minutes, Lana walked in.

"Hey, girly girl," Lana greeted me. I waved.

"What up, smarty?

"Nothing. Tried to get the book worm out of her comfort zone."

"Bella read through the class again?"

"Yep. It's starting to get annoying."

"Trust me, I know. She pasted annoying a long time ago."

"I'm glad I'm an only child." The bell rung for class to begin. Lana took the seat next to me. Mr. Caserus told the class to settle down and after a few minutes, we did. After explaining an important aspect of language arts, he arrived at the fun part of the class. It was actually a drama exercise(he should have been a drama teacher too). Improvisation.

"Any volunteers?" he asked.

"Me! Me! Me!" I yelled, raising my hand. I was picked of course. Along with Randy.

"You start," I told Randy. I didn't have an idea. He nodded. He brought his hand up to his ear and made a telephone gesture.

"Ring, ring."

"Hello?"

"Yes, is this Grace Inc."

"Of course, how can I help you?"

"I have a question about one of your products."

"Well, I'm happy to answer your questions, sir." I even smiled like I've seen cashiers do all the time.

"Yeah, this cherry scented shampoo. How do you use it?" I paused for a second. _'Where is this going?' _

"Uhh... You use it like any other shampoo. You know, just wash your hair."

"Yes, but how do you do that?"

"Okay, well you should use it in the shower."

"Really, I was using it in the car." I raised my eyebrows.

"Sir, you shouldn't do that. Shampoo is not for the car."

"Alright, so say I'm taking a shower."

"Are you taking a shower?" I interrupted.

"Maybe."

"Alright, I'll just talk you threw this. First, grab the shampoo bottle."

"Alright- wait. I dropped it. Maybe I should put it on a rope so it won't fall."

"Okay! Once you have the shampoo, squeeze a little into your palm."

"Aright."

"Now, rub the shampoo into your hair until it's all foamy."

"Excuse me, foamy? What does that mean?" _'He is good at this.'_

"You'll know it when you see it. Okay, after that you rinse out the shampoo."

"Why?"

"You just do. Then, if you want to, you can repeat this process."

"Why?"

"Because it's good for your hair."

"Are you sure it's not so I'll run out faster and buy more?"

"Yes, why would I lie to you?"

"To sell more shampoo."

"I wouldn't do that. Trust me."

"That's enough, you two can sit down," our teacher said. I frowned a little at that; it was fun repressing my laughter.

_'Don't trip, don't trip, don't trip- damn it! Maybe he didn't notice,' _ I thought hopefully. I was wearing heels. And I was tripping. Cut me some slack, it was my first time!

Anyway, I was accompanying Richard on his trip to buying... something. I wasn't paying attention. All I know was that we were going to Jack's Shop. And I was excited. That place was cool; it had everything. Everything! I always left with a lot of cool stuff.

Pulling my hat down so the wind wouldn't steal my hat, I picked up my speed to catch up to Richard. He still had over a foot on me, although I have been growing. I can't wait until the difference is less. I don't like people towering over me.

"Remind me why you decided to wear a dress in winter," Richard said. I twirled in my pretty yellow dress. If the sun wasn't going to shine, then I would. And I made a pretty good sun.

"Because nothing is going to stand between me and my fashion," I answered. Richard rolled his eyes, so I stuck out my tongue. Then he lightly shoved me, so I pushed him. He glared and I smiled. And that was the end of that.

"Admit it, I look cute," I said with confidence and certainty a few moments later.

"I plead the fifth," he replied quickly.

"Not even gonna comment," I said.

"You just did," he pointed out. I turned to him.

"Whatever. How much longer?" I asked. He was torturing me, that's why we were walking instead of riding in a car like civilized people. We rode into town with Edward, but then he took the car and left us to walk to the store.

"It's right there, little girl," he answered, pointing to the store. I ignored the little girl comment.

"Come on!" I said. We reached the store and entered. I immediately left Richard's side to explore the store. Guitars, lamps, hats, glass figurines- this place had everything! And, unlike most of the family, Richard trusted me not to get into too much trouble. I did my best not to disappoint him.

I looked through the bins of 'junk' as Mom put it. She just didn't have the same eye as I did. I saw potential in that junk. Rummaging through a bin, I found some sparkly blue fabric and glitter glue. Then I found a disappointingly unadorned basket. I put my stuff in it. _'I'll fix it later.' _

Ten minutes later and I had a pair of shorts, a doll, and a paint set for Melissa. The paint set was a bribe, I had a favor to ask.

"Adri, hurry up. I'm in line," I heard Richard say. I made sure I had all my stuff and walked over to the counter, picking up a sewing kit and nail polish on the way.

"What are you going to do with this stuff?" he asked.

"I don't know, but I want it," I answered. He shrugged and paid for all our stuff. We walked out of the store. Making our way to Sylvia's Cafe, we walked in mostly silence. It was uncomfortable or anything; I just didn't have anything to say. Shocking, right?

Richard held the glass door open for me, and I walked into the noticeably warmer restaurant. I was glad to be out of the cold. I waited for someone to seat us and a few moments later, someone did. She gave us a table near a window, which I was happy about.

"Can I get you anything to drink?" the waitress, Mandy, asked.

"Water please," I answered, while Richard politely declined.

"You realize that every single woman and then some is staring at you," I pointed out. I always found that creepy.

"Yeah, I can feel their eyes," Richard responded. Cocking my head, I scrunched up my face in thought.

"Why? You're not that handsome," I asked. Richard retracted in mock-pain.

"What?" he replied.

"You're not that handsome. At least, not enough to stare. I don't get it," I explained. I really didn't.

"Maybe not to you, but you're still a little girl," he retorted.

"What does that have to do with anything?" I asked.

"You'll understand when you're a teenager," he said.

"And when will that be?" I asked. _'I'm like 40 years old. Don't I already qualify?' _

"That's a conversation you should have with Mom," Richard said, as our waitress came to our table with my water.

"Ready to order?" Mandy asked.

"Yeah, I'll just have some fries and a chicken sandwich," I said. Richard turned down any food. Mandy left with our orders. I looked out the window and just daydreamed a little, when a strangely familiar voice drifted to my ears.

"I don't care what she says, she dyes her hair. No one has red hair like that," a voice that sounded like Becky said. Discreetly looking, I saw Becky and Lily enter the cafe with Becky's mom.

"I'm just glad we didn't have to go to the Georgia Jane movie with her. Last time, she talked through the whole thing. That girl needs to learn to shut up," Lily said. I clenched my fists. The comments weren't that bad, I've heard worse, and it wasn't said bitterly or meanly. It was almost, kinda like how Melissa tease me. Plus, they're right. I did talk through the movie. So, why was I angry? They said it behind my back. I hated people taking behind my back.

"She needs to learn to sit still and calm down. That girl lives off sugar," Lily said. Then their conversation went to another topic. I thought about confronting them, but decided against it. I was having a good day, and it wasn't that big of a deal. I'll just call them out on it Monday.

"So, we're good?" Becky asked. I paused for a second, before nodding.

"Yeah, we're good," I said, giving her a one-armed hug. She smiled and returned it.

"Come on, let's get to first period," she said. I walked alongside her. My first period was social studies, which is boring. Needless to say, I struggled to stay awake. Third period wasn't much better. Lunch couldn't have come soon enough.

Getting my food and sitting down at my table, I waited for my friends to show up. I picked at my food and sipped my milk. The cafeteria was noisy as usual. Preteens and teens talking about this and that, and what that girl or that boy was caught doing. Normal stuff.

"Damn, that girl is clumsy," I heard a male voice say. Frankie. He has it out for my friend Katy. I looked over at him and saw him looking at my friend. I thought so. _'Can't he just leave her alone?'_

"Like seriously, Katy should crawl back under whatever rock she came from." _'Okay, that's it. I'm going over there.' _I told Lily, who just arrived, to watch my food before standing up and walking toward Frankie.

"Hey, Frank," I called, "You got a problem with my friend? I heard you talking about her."

"Your friend should be in a circus with the other clowns." _'Oh, he did not.' _

"What is wrong with you? Katy is like the sweetest girl ever. You better leave her alone or else."

"Why, is she like your girlfriend or something?"

"Shut up. You know damn well that she is my friend and I stand up for my friends. I don't let bullies like you mess with me or my girls."

"Don't tell me to shut up. You're just an ugly little girl who's never gonna get a boyfriend. No guy wants a smart girl, you freak."

"I don't want a boyfriend, and boy, you better shut it before I make you. Don't make me hurt you."

"Like you can hurt me. You're a girl, weak and fragile."

"Can't say I didn't warn you." Then, to scare him, I punched him in the arm, semi-hard. I didn't want to start a fight, just get him to back off.

"Ow, bi- what the hell was that!" Frankie exclaimed.

"I warned you. I don't empty threats," I replied, leaning into his face. When he gulped in fear, I leaned back. Then I turned around and walked back to my friends. I ignored Frankie for the rest of the lunch period. I talked with my friends and ate my food, then walked to my fifth period. The day went on like normal, until 1:02 came around.

"Can Adriana Cullen report to the main office please?" a voice announced over the loudspeakers. My class went 'oo, you got in trouble' as I got up and gathered my stuff. I walked to the main office and entered the principal's office. I saw Frankie holding his arm, with tears in his eyes. I also saw my mom, who didn't look as angry or disappointed as she normally does when she gets called in.

"Take a seat, Adriana," the principal said. I sat down next to Mommy.

"Now, Franklin here says you hit him. Is that true?" she asked. I nodded. Meetings like these go by faster when you tell the truth.

"Yes, it's true."

"Can you tell me why?"

"He was making fun of my friend Katy and I wanted him to stop. He wouldn't, so I hit him."

"Did it occur to you to tell a teacher?"

"No. In my experience, that never works."

"Ah, yes. You were bullied in elementary."

"Yeah. I didn't want the same happening to Katy. That can mess you up."

"Adriana, I can not allow you to go unpunished. I will have to suspend you."

"I understand. Do as you must." I threw in a polite smile.

"You're very mature for you age, Adriana," the principal said with a hint of surprise. I smiled proudly.

"I was raised right, but I have a nasty temper. I just can't help myself sometime," I explained. The principal nodded and dismissed me. I walked with Mommy to the car. I climbed into my seat and strapped myself in. I waited until after she started the car to ask my question.

"How much trouble am I in?" I asked. My voice was not stressed; it was not angry, or worried. It was defeated. I knew I was going to get punish, no matter what the reason for fighting. Mom told me very clearly that if I hit another human, again, I would be punished severely. I learned to come through on my threats from someone, and it wasn't Daddy.

"I haven't decided yet." _'That's not good.' _

"Before I'm grounded, can I go on a walk in the forest? I need to let out some steam," I asked. My anger at the fact that Frankie told on me was strong, but repressed. It had no place in the main office and no place in Mom's car. But in a forest with trees that I could hit, it didn't just belong, it thrived.

"Sure. Just don't get hurt," Mom answered.

"Stupid, tattle taling, mother freaking- arg! God, I hate him! I hope his hair falls out. This isn't fair! Stupid bastard! Arg! This never happens to Melissa," I yelled, kicking a tree. It cracked in pain.

"God, this always happens to me! Melissa never gets in trouble. And she's like a gazillion times worse! This is so unfair! God, how does Melissa get away with this? Why did that stupid little boy have to tell? I need to ask her how to get them to keep their damn mouth shut. It wasn't even that hard of a punch. Sure, it left a nasty purple bruise, but that will go away. I could have given a black eye. I could have killed him if I wanted, I'm a freaking hybrid." Another tree cracked.

"Why do people always have to butt in? If I hit Melissa, she'd get back at me. Not tell on me. That I could understand. That makes sense. But bring adults into this makes everything so complicated. I was just defending my friend! I've tried reasoning with him, but that didn't work! So what else could I do? When talking doesn't work, you have to hit them." Another crack. Taking a deep breath, I thought about everything that had pissed me off in the last few months.

I thought about Lily's stupid dog eating my barbie. I thought about Becky's annoying comments about my wardrobe. I thought about how I had only one class with my sister Bella. I thought about how I got band instead of Home Economics, which I wanted! I thought about all the boys in my class that made fun of me for knowing math.

I thought about about how so many people thought just because I was hyper and fashion-oriented, that I was ditsy. That I wasn't smart or witty. I thought about how my older siblings patronize me. I thought about how Mom had been way to busy with her stupid landscaping project lately to do anything fun with me! I thought about every little thing that those blabbering monkeys at school had said to me.

Clenching my hand so hard that it was even whiter then usual, I thought about what pissed me off the most. I thought about how unfair it was that I knew nothing about my beginning. That I couldn't remember those first days with the Cullens or anything that happened before that. That it was all a blur. That I felt this rage at the shadowy memories of the days before, that for the life in me won't clear up or do anything about! That I felt an unexplained fury that just felt right, like it belonged. That I wanted to kill someone, but I didn't know who. Practically shaking with rage, I pulled back my arm and punched the tree as hard as I could. I yelled.

I let out all my anger in that punch and that yell. I slid down my hand and took deep, calming breaths. I let go of all that anger, at least for the moment. It felt good to let it out. Opening my eyes to look at the damage, I wasn't shocked to see the scorch mark. A little surprised, but not shocked. Looking at my hand, which was still a bit warm, I felt a lot better. The sticky rage that cling to me was released. Some of it stayed, but I can deal with that.

I touched the mark; it was still warm. I thought about calling back that anger to see if I could do it again, but I had no motivation to do so. I wanted to go home and crawl under my covers and sleep. The day just took a toll on me and I was sleepy.

_'Plus, I can do that when I'm not grounded.'_

**An: I hope this was worth the wait. I think I did a good job, that break from writing really helped. Also, I fixed chapters 1,3,5,7, and 9 from my first story. I'm sure I missed stuff, but I fix them a lot and changed the tense. And Adriana's power is officially revealed, although most of you probably already knew or suspected. Adriana has anger problems, and she is still immature. But she's growing and learning. And still not a woman. Lucky. **

**One more thing. Out of boredom, I started writing this other story. It's incomplete. Do you want to read it? It's called(for now) secret of the scales(dragons, not mermaids). Tell me if you want to read it. I might post it, might not. I don't think its very good, but some editing can fix that. **


	16. Chapter 15

**An: As always, I hope this chapter was better than the last. **

**P.S. Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry about the delay. It took me way too long to edit In the Beginning, mostly because I am lazy/overworked. So sorry. This chapter is so not worth the wait, although I did try my best to write the best chapter I've ever written. So sorry.**

**P.P.S When editing In The Beginning, Laurent wasn't there with Victoria and James. Keep that in mind. It won't come up here, but it will later. Also, I added a traumatic event to explain why Bella hates blood, that's in the area when she was kidnapped if you want to reread it. If you don't that's fine; I mostly kept things the same.**

**Chapter Fifteenth **

**Suspicions  
Bella's POV**

_'Stupid hair. It never does what I want,'_ I thought, cussing my brown locks. I had been trying for the last hour to do something new with my hair, but nothing. It refused to change. I huffed and grabbed my hairbrush. I quickly passed it through my hair to detangle it, then throw it into a really loose ponytail. _'Screw all this preteen obsession with appearance. I'm gonna go find a quiet spot and read 'The Secret Garden.' Haven't read that book in a while...' _I thought, getting up to search my room.

I began my search at my bookshelf, a reasonable place to begin, and quickly realized my book was missing. _'Who "borrowed" it this time?' _I thought. I turned around and glanced around the room. While I had began to hate sharing a room with my sisters, I didn't mind it enough at that point to warrant asking to have my own room. Plus, Melissa did most of her planning in our room. I always knew what was going to happen.

Since Adriana avoided books like they were a disease, Melissa's section of the room was where I searched. I looked through her drawers and under her bed. My book was not under her blue bed, but my black boots were there hidden among extra school supplies and dirty clothes. As I crawled out from under Melissa's bed, I stepped on Melissa stuffed golden man-statue thing. I didn't even know; we found it at a thrift store. Melissa feel in love with it. _'What did she name that thing? Stephen? Stephano? I don't remember. Maybe I should steal it as payback.' _It was a good idea for revenge. I really needed to talk to my sister about boundaries and not stealing my stuff.

"Looking for something?" I heard a voice ask from behind. Without bothering to turn, I responded.

"The Secret Garden."

"You'll have to go across the pond for that."

"My book, dummy," I replied kindheartedly. Melissa laughed airily and nodded.

"Right. I think I left it under the desk." Melissa slipped off her shoes and sat down on the bed. While she made herself comfortable, Mr. Chair(the purple chair Adriana named when we were like physically seven or something) lifted up slightly to release my book that was trapped under it, while a sketchbook and pen lifted into air. My book glided seamlessly to me, while the sketchbook landed softly next to Melissa and the pen dropped into her hand. I smiled at Melissa and gave her a thumbs up. She was still hiding her ability from the family.

Melissa practiced 24-7 in our room to improve her ability. At first, she mostly just held items in the air while doing random stuff, to get used to it. She had to let Adriana in on the secret because of that. When she started to get good, she ramped it up by actually moving the items while forced on other activities.

With my book firmly in hand, I left the room. Running down the stairs, I made my way to a nice spot by the window. I sat down and started reading. _'Mary, Mary. What a lonely upbringing.' _As I read, Adriana was having a very loud fight with Richard. She accused him of cheating on a bet, which he refused. She was getting very worked up, so she decided to step back and take a break.

It was getting loud inside, so I grabbed my book and went outside to read. There was an oak tree near the house, so I sat there facing away from the house. Before I started reading, I enjoyed the winter scenery. Only a couple months until I had to leave all this.

We were going to move as soon as the school year was over. We were moving to Alaska, about a two hour drive from our cousins. I was looking forward to seeing my cousins again, it had been way too long! The last time we had visited them was a winter vacation like six or so years prior. Although, I wasn't exactly looking forward to seeing Tanya. She always bothered Edward and took attention away from me, because he was too busy avoiding her to spend time with me. It sucked because he's like my best friend next to my sisters.

_'But now I'm older. Maybe I can tell her to back off. I get she wants to have a mate, but really, Edward isn't it interested. She's sexually harassing him. I'm sure that if she stopped going after Edward, she would eventually find her own mate. Hell, I'm help her! I don't like being ignored...' _I thought.

I loved Tanya, really I did. She was an awesome person. When I first met her, she gave me a stuffed toy pig. I was young and not very creative, plus I was in a bit of a juvenile state of mind at the time, so I named it Piggeh. I loved that toy and she quickly gained my love because of it. Later on, we really connected when I started to mature. However, now she was annoying me because she needed to back off; then we would have no problems. None at all.

Footsteps brought me out of my thoughts. Checking my shield, which was always around my sisters, I saw- wait, felt that it was Adri. Part of my mind told me that this would be an invasion of privacy, but I decided to do it anyway. So I followed her. It wasn't too hard with my shield around her, I just followed that.

At first, following her was boring. She just walked. My mind started to wonder out of boredom. _'Irina has a mate. I guess I'll get to meet him when we go to visit her. What was it Mom told me? They met in Europe, that's all I remember. I hope he is nice. And doesn't attack me. He's only been on the vegetarian diet for four years.' _I felt Adri stop. I approached her carefully and hid behind a tree. I peeked around to look at her.

Adri was just standing there. She looked like she was in deep thought. _'What is she thinking?' _I thought. She was standing up straight and stiff, with her hands clenched. She breathing evenly; I could see her chest rise and fall. What the hell was she doing? Breathing exercises?

Adri slowly opened her eyes. She held out her hand, her palm facing up. Her fingers were curled up sightly. She breathed in and I saw her fingers tense. Nothing happened. She breathed out and breathed in again, her hand still tensed.

My eyes left her hand for a second. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw something flash. I looked back, but it was over. I missed it, whatever it was. I waited. Then waited some more. Finally, something happened. Which was cool. Very cool.

It was like the air in her hand sparked. A little flame puffed out of her hand. It didn't last long. It turned into a little cloud of smoke. I thought about saying something, but I could sense that Adri wasn't done and I didn't want to disturb her.

So now I knew that Adri had a power too. Just like me and just like Melissa. And she didn't tell anyone. Just like Melissa. God, we made a dangerous trio. _'When we're older, we will be a force not to be messed with.' _I sat down quietly and watched Adri.

Adri tried again for a third time, and this time the fire stayed. It was a small flame, but it was strong. Adri looked so proud of herself. She smiling wider then I had ever seen. She slowly closed her hand. The flame seemed to slip between her fingers and enclose her hand. Her hand was on fire, but it didn't hurt. At least, it didn't look like it.

"I'm awesome," Adri said, reopening her hand. _'I wouldn't know about that, little sis. But you're getting there.' _Adri let go of the flame. I stood up and clapped.

"Nice job, little sis. I knew you were a hothead," I teased. Adri turned around to look at me.

"Bella!" Adriana shouted, before my words sunk in, "Who are you calling a hothead?"

"You, little Miss Redhead. Don't deny it," I said, "That was cool." Adri smiled smugly.

"I know. Cooler than your power," Adri taunted back. She was always on my case about that. I mean, she was right. Compared to hers and Melissa's power, mine was kinda lame. But I wasn't going to admit that.

"Oh, really? Well then I guess I don't have to shield you anymore from Edward. I can just let him read your mind."

"You wouldn't."

"Wanna bet? Say my power's better than yours."

"But it's not!"

"Then I guess you don't need my protection." I turned around and acted like I was going to leave.

"Wait! In some cases, you power would be more useful than mine."

"Eh, I'll take it." And with that, I walked over to my sister. I hugged her quickly.

"Tell me. Did that flame hurt? Could you feel it? How the hell do you control?" I asked quickly, shooting the questions off rapidly.

"Yes, but it doesn't hurt. When it's in my hands," Adri explained.

"What do you mean?"

"I guess my hands are flame retardant, but the rest of my body isn't. I accidentally burned myself," Adriana answered, pulling up her jean leg to show an old scar on her leg.

"It's a couple weeks old; I lost control of a flame and it started a little fire," Adri said. I felt like she was understating.

"Ow...That had to hurt. Any one else know?" I asked. Adri shook her head.

"Nope," she said, popping the 'p'. I laughed a little.

"So, what can you do?" I asked. I wanted a better demonstration.

"Let me show you, my brunette sister," Adri said, wrapping an arm around me.

* * *

Adri concentrated on the fire in front of her. Adri was sitting crossed-legged on the floor and I was across from her. She kept her hand hovering over the flame and she was controlling where it went. She was burning a drawing into the section of grass we cleared out. It didn't take too long for us to clear the snow away.

"Is it a dog?" I asked. She shook her head. I huffed. She had me stumped, I couldn't tell what it was. I watched her guild the flame to the left, curving the ash line thing.

"Is it Fred Flintstones?" I asked, taking a shot in the dark. Turning my head to look at it from a different angle help a little.

"Close," Adri replied.

"Bamm Bamm?" I asked. She nodded.

"Yes!" I punched the air. Adri giggled at me.

"You are so lame," she teased. I shoved her to the floor.

"Shut it. Now what?" I inquired. Adriana got up the floor and dusted herself off.

"I don't know. What do you want to do?"

"I kinda want to finish reading my book," I responded. Adriana rolled her eyes in disdain. She wasn't a fan of reading anything more intelligent than magazines and popular romance stories.

"Don't look at me like that! You don't have to join me," I replied. Adriana scoffed and crossed her arms.

"Good, because I don't want to," Adriana said.

"Fine. I'm going to my reading spot. You, do whatever you want. Just don't get me in trouble," I stated.

"Yeah, yeah. I'm going home." I waved goodbye to Adriana as she departed. Spending time with my sister is fun, but I can only tolerate her for so long. Being alone with my own thoughts was very appealing. Lately, life has been hectic and chaotic.

With my book securely in hand, I sauntered to my reading spot. It wasn't anything special. During a walk outside, I discovered an old tree house. Most of the wood was rotten and deteriorating, except for the floor which was still sturdy. So after ripping out the rotten wood, I taped down a plastic cover and started reading there. It had a nice view of the scenery.

When I arrived at the tree house, I tossed my book carefully so it would land softly in the middle of the floor. Taking my time and minding my steps, I climbed up the tree to the tree house. I laid down precariously near the edge with my book and opened to chapter 21.

When I started reading, the sun was nearing its zenith. After a couple of delightful chapters, the sun was considerably lower. Reading tired out my eyes, so I set the book down and turned over onto my back to watch the sky.

_'Alaska is going to be so fun. I wish we could move into our old home, but we can't. At least we get to see our cousins. I really hope having a mate didn't change Irina, she's fun. Sometimes. I just don't get the allure of having a mate. What does having a mate feel like? Is it like having a best friend, but better? I don't even know. I'm approximately forty years and have never had crush on anyone. Ever. I can see where my life is going. Sure, I'm physically eleven, but even preadolescents get crushes Not me. Humans aren't interesting enough.'_

_'Now that I think about it, what will happen when I'm older? At some point I'm going to be interested in boys. What will I do then? I can't get involved with a human; I'll outlive them. And if I get involved with a vampire, won't they outlive me? Neither option is very good. Does that mean I can't get involve with anyone? Oh my... I should stop. This is a depressing subject. Time to think about something else.'_

_'What to think about? Mom and Dad are idiots sometimes. I can not believe they are still hiding information from me. And they are going a pathetic job. I obviously saw Dad on the phone with someone; just because I was too distracted to inquire about who he was speaking with doesn't mean he can trick me into thinking the conversation was nothing. I heard almost every word and he was worried about something. He was really vague, but he was worried about something.'_

_'Whoever he was speaking to scared him. I could see it in his eyes when he picked up the phone. The fact he left the room immediately didn't help. Plus it is a bit suspicious that the moment he picked up the phone, my siblings decided to 'entertain' Melissa and me. Like they didn't want me hearing anything. Maybe I shouldn't have listened. It didn't help me in anyway. On top of that, now I'm all frightened. Dad is scared of someone. Dad! That's worse then Jasper or Emmett being scared of something.'_

_'They're adults; they shouldn't be scared of anything! That's my job. Realistically, I know they must have some fears, but it's different to find out for sure. It makes it real. I don't like it. I'm just going to pretend that it didn't happen. That normally works.'_

"Bella!" I turned over and peered over the edge of the floor. I saw my mother searching for me.

"Yeah?" I called out. Mom caught sight of me in the tree and crossed her arms.

"Isabella Cullen! You come down here right now! The tree house, if you can call it that, is a disaster waiting to happen. Get down here before you hurt yourself."

"But Mom! I'm perfectly safe."

"Now, Bella." I groaned, but reluctantly rose onto my feet to climb down. I climbed down a bit hazardously, which reasonably freaked my mother out. After I forgo the last three steps and just jumped down, my mom looked like she would have a heart attack if her heart was still beating. She was being very melodramatic; I was not a fragile little girl that would shatter like glass. For god's sake, I have ran through the glass door; not into it, through it. Broke the glass, kept on running. Aside from a few scratches, I was fine.

"Bella, don't do that to me. You could have fallen and seriously gotten hurt," my mother chastised me. I shook my head, but elected to stay quiet. Mom started to picked at my hair, taking out the leaves that clung to it while I was laying down.

"Mom, stop it!" I told her. Man, she was being annoying.

"Just one more, honey." I swatted away her hands.

"Mom!" I yelled. She rolled her eyes and picked out the last leaf.

"There, I'm done. Bella, it's time to go home. You have been out way too long," Mom said. I rolled my eyes, but said nothing. Mom and I headed back home at a slow speed.

"Mom, what's our new house going to be like?" I asked.

"It's a large, white neoclassic home with a waterfront view. It's two stories, has seven bedrooms, three bathrooms, and a fireplace," Mom told me.

"A fireplace! We haven't had one in forever. Oh, I can't wait," I squealed. Mom laughed at my excitement.

"It's been awhile. Should I stock up on marshmallows when we move in?" Mom asked jokingly. However, I answered in all seriousness.

"Yes. Buy the entire the store." Mom laughed harder at that, which eventually broke me and made me laugh. We continued to talk on our way home. After reaching the house, I marched my way straight to the kitchen because I smelled food and that made me realized I was starving. I ate my entire dinner in under five minutes. It was a plate and a half of food.

That was the last time I skipped my afternoon snack.

**AN: Well, was it worth it? I think it came out good. I got major writer's blocks when I was writing this, which was why I put that entire section of Bella's thoughts. I couldn't think of anything. Anyway, give me your thoughts. Review please.**

**PS. Brofist. (Shout out to anyone who gets this reference and all the other ones.) **


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